Gego (Gertrud Goldschmidt) Born 1912, Hamburg; died 1994, Caracas, Venezuela

Reticulárea cuadrada 71/9
1971

Stainless steel rods and iron washers

Phyllis C. Wattis Fund for Major Accessions, 2018

Working directly and intuitively, without sketches or models, Gego began creating hanging sculptures such as Reticulárea cuadrada 71/9 in the early 1970s. She called this group of ethereal wire works Reticulárea, after the Spanish words for "net" and "area." Here, the filaments of metal joined by circular washers are transformed into a geometric, multidimensional structure where volumes of negative space expand, contract, and multiply according to the viewer's position and proximity. Though she did not physically alter the materials she used, Gego placed a high value on technique and the importance of the artist's hand.

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