A selection of more than 170 pieces will be shown until the month of July 2001 in the Museum of Fine Arts (MBA), in Caracas, Venezuela. Due to the interest this retrospective show has awoken among the general public and the art critics, the Museum of Fine Arts has prepared a synopsis of GEGO 1955-1990. From May 27 until July 31, Rooms 2 and 6 of Annex 2 will hold a selection of more than 170 pieces that were part of the anthology shown by the MBA, with the cooperation of the Gego Foundation.

Iris Peruga, the exhibition Curator, summarizes in a few words what Gego’s work makes the observer feel: "Gego’s work flows, is contagious and dissolves itself in others, since it provokes in whoever sees it, a process of enchantment and reflection, of inner research, not so much intellectual but emotional, a feeling, in some way, of mimesis."

Ms. Peruga further states that, "this artist’s work, as well as causing the most agreeable feelings of well-being, pleasure and joy in those who see it, is also indivisible in the sense that it is continuous with no breaks, it is a flowing work as the universe as a whole, which is constantly in process." These reflections arise from Ms. Peruga having studied this great artist’s work in depth, and having exchanged experiences with the public who visited the MBA in order to enjoy the work of this German-Venezuelan artist.

In the catalogue, GEGO 1955-1990, MBA 2001, Ms. Peruga says, "Gego’s work is of utmost coherency. Her moments in drawing, printing and sculpture respond to her aesthetic ideas in a very closed relationship..." She also describes the three stages in Gego's creation of Parallel Lines, characterized by the use of the plane sectioned in parallel lines, creating, indicating or suggesting volumetric shapes. At the same time, she creates objects that she calls bugs, using wires and metal strings. Then she produces Reticulareas (nets or meshes), with which she breaks with parallel structures and knits nets that unfold in space. During the last stage of her life she made paper-free drawings, small and intimate works in which she used tiny tweezers to tame wires and other objects she found in order to invent shapes that conveyed the idea of spatial drawings. During this time, she also made her series of trunks and spheres, as well as her weavings and fractured fabrics with paper and cardboard.

The well-known Colombian art historian Marta Traba referred to Gego’s work by saying, "As every other great work of art she has been capable of creating a closed circuit of aesthetic values, on the coherence of which depends the effectiveness of its message."

In its struggle to enrich their collections of Latin American and modern art, the Museum of Modern Art in New York (MOMA) has repeatedly stated its interest in learning more about the artistic production, not only of other Venezuelans, but also of other foreign-born artists based in Venezuela. Such is the case of Gertrud Goldschmidt, better known as Gego. Within the framework of the exhibition GEGO 1955-1990, a committee from MOMA visited the Museum of Fine Arts to express their interest in taking Gego’s work to their museum. MOMA’s Director explained that the importance of this retrospective exhibition is unequaled in the entire world, and in conclusion, they will be taking a selection of the artist’s drawings, nets, and paper-free drawings to exhibit at MOMA.

* Permission to reproduce this text was graciously given by the Gego Foundation and the Museo de Bellas Artes, Venezuela.

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