In her weekly newspaper column, “Criticandito,” published on June 17, 1979 (in La Verdad, Caracas), Sofía Imber discusses four cultural events, two of which were at the Galería Mendoza, in Caracas: Guaches de la aldea de la India Madhubani [Gouaches of the Village of Madhubani, India] (1) and Cerámicas de Tecla Tofano [Ceramics by Tecla Tofano] (1927–1995). Imber reports her brief conversation with Tofano in which they wonder whether there are any critics of ceramic art in Venezuela, and mentions Miguel Arroyo as one of the exceptions. The other two events reviewed by Imber are exhibitions at the Museo de Bellas Artes in Caracas: humorous drawings by Tofano, and Gego’s installation, Reticulárea. The reviewer describes the latter, and the public’s reaction to it. She ends with an unsigned quote from the catalogue that claims that the Reticulárea blends calculation and spontaneity to create a serene, magical environment.  

In her weekly column, “Criticandito,” published in the newspaper La Verdad (Caracas), the Rumanian-born Venezuelan journalist, art critic, and museologist Sofía Imber (b. 1924) reviews the most important visual arts events of the week, and reports on two key artists in the history of Venezuelan art, the ceramicist Tecla Tofano (1927–1995) and the German-born Venezuelan artist Gego (Gertrud Goldschmidt 1912–1994). This review is exceptionally valuable because it is one of the very first texts about Gego’s Reticulárea (1969), written a few days after its inaugural showing. The public and the press were amazed by this installation; nothing like it had ever been seen before in Venezuela. As with almost all of Imber’s newspaper articles, this one is clearly and intelligently written, and can be understood by the general public even when discussing fairly complex aspects of the visual arts. She reviews the event and describes the materials, systems, and even the condition of the installation. Imber puts herself in the viewer’s shoes and asks the questions that were on the public’s mind. She reports Gego’s answers and then includes the brief quote from the catalogue.   

Imber is undoubtedly one of the most authoritative voices in Venezuelan journalism, and is also acknowledged as one of the greatest promoters of art in Latin America. She is best known for her television journalism, specifically for the interview and current events programs, such as “Buenos Días,” that she hosted with her husband Carlos Rangel. In 1973 she founded the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo [Contemporary Art Museum] in Caracas, which she directed for thirty-one years. She has been a driving force in promoting Gego’s work since 1969, and organized the first retrospective at the MAC in 1977, for which Marta Traba wrote the catalogue essay. Imber published Gego’s first monograph, with text by Hanni Ossot, the Venezuelan poet.

Translated into English by Paulette Pagani in 2010, this excerpt from “Criticandito” devoted to Gego’s Reticulárea is among the documents chosen for the bilingual book Desenredando la red. La Reticulárea de Gego. Una antología de respuestas críticas / Untangling the Web: Gego’s Reticulárea, An Anthology of Critical Response, María Elena Huizi and Ester Crespin (organizers)—to be published by The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and the Fundación Gego, Caracas.