This brief essay by the Venezuelan critic and curator, Lourdes Blanco (b. 1941) appeared in the publication that was produced on the occasion of the first exhibition of the Reticulárea, the installation created by the German-born Venezuelan artist, Gego (Gertrud Goldschmidt, 1912–1994), at the Museo de Bellas Artes [Museum of Fine Arts] in Caracas in June and July 1969. The pamphlet was published by the Galería Conkright in Caracas that represented Gego at the time.
This text is the first description of Reticulárea, a work that many consider to be the most important achievement of Gego’s career and which undoubtedly marked a radical transformation in her aesthetic up to that point, ushering in a new stage for her as an artist. Lourdes Blanco had witnessed the creation of the work, which began as a small mesh net that hung in the Museo de Bellas Artes and then grew into a very large installation in a particular room at the museum, where it was eventually shown to the public. Blanco’s reference to “calculation and spontaneity” was subsequently used many times to describe Gego’s creative process. Later that year the piece was taken to New York where it was installed in a tent at the exhibition New Paintings and Sculpture. Juan Downey, Agustín Fernández, Gego, and Gabriel Morera at the Center for Inter-American Relations, for which Blanco expanded her original essay.
Reticulárea has been installed and uninstalled in Caracas on several occasions. It is currently part of the permanent collection at the Galería de Arte Nacional [National Art Gallery], where it is on display in its own designated room.
