Gego

Gertrude Louise Goldschmidt ( born August 1, 1912 in Hamburg, † September 17, 1994 in Venezuela), known under the pseudonym Gego, was an important artist of Venezuela. She was known for her abstract drawings, three-dimensional works and their networked with wire constructions. Poured most successful works were created in the 1960s and 1970s.

• 3.1 Individual Exhibitions
• 3.2 Group Exhibitions

Life

Information about poured Biography originate for the most part their personal estate. After her death, received the Foundation, established in Caracas " Fundación Gego " a case in which she had picked up her life over personal documents. Among them were biographical questionnaires by Frithjof Trapp, a specialist in exile literature from 1933 to 1945, the studies about the exile and emigration of Jews were carried out in Hamburg and in 1987 Gego asked to fill in some of its questionnaires. However, the questionnaires sent after filling not return. From the biographical questionnaires and personal documents in 2005 was the book " Sabidurías and other texts by Gego ", which appeared in English and Spanish.

First stage of life in Germany

Poured great-grandfather founded in 1815, the Bank " Goldschmidt & Son," her uncle, Adolph Goldschmidt, was a successful German art historian. Gego was the sixth of seven children, she was a very quiet child. First Gego attended a public school, later she was taught at home. She then moved to a private school, where she learned, determined, and safe to express their views. On her first attempt Gego fell by the external high school diploma.

From 1932 to 1938, she studied architecture at the Technical University of Stuttgart, as it already was interested in as a child very much for art. In August 1938 Gego was aware that she was at that time in Germany, in a dangerous situation, since they came from a Jewish family. Paul Bonatz was one of many professors where Gego completed her studies in architecture, this and some other high school teachers helped Gego their work as soon as possible to finalize and evaluate, so they promptly received her diploma, with the aim thus outside of Germany to work to apply.

Second stage of life in Venezuela

After Gego 1938 successfully finished her studies in architecture, she applied with her diploma at all potential emigration countries for a work permit. In the U.S. Gego did not want for personal reasons. Gradually, time pressed, because the situation in Germany for Gego was more dangerous. In 1938, the day after Kristallnacht, Gego in Munich just barely escaped being accessed by the Nazis. In March 1939, her parents emigrated with a visa for England. Since Gego still had to stay in Germany, they regulated the sale and the resolution of the possession of the family. A few weeks later, she received a job offer from Caracas in Venezuela.

Gego left Germany and traveled by boat to her family in Southampton, England. However, since they only had a transit visa for England, they had to travel to Venezuela. Gego has arrived on site and quickly realized that they had to go independently to find work because the job opportunity no longer existed. Several months later, in 1940, their efforts have rewarded, and he got a job in an architect's office, where she worked as an architect and was responsible for the construction of public buildings in Caracas.

A few months later, she learned about German emigrants contacts her future husband Ernst Gunz know. Together they founded a carpentry and lamp workshop and had two children. Eleven years later, in 1951, the couple separated. 1952, 13 years after fleeing to Venezuela, Gego received the Venezuelan citizenship and learned Gerd Leufert know who moved to Venezuela because of the oil wealth in 1951. As they are very well understood both privately and on an artistic level, they spent the rest of their lives together.

Over the next six years worked Gego reinforced at her drawings and sculptures, until they began to teach as a teacher of sculpture at the Escuela de Artes Plásticas Cristobal Rojas. From 1961 to 1967 she was a professor of watercolor and gouache on the architecture and urban design faculty of the Universidad Central de Venezuela and worked from 1964 to 1977 as a lecturer at the Instituto de Diseño in Caracas, which she co-founded. This was followed by numerous visits to the USA and Europe, where Gego presented her work.

On September 17, 1994, 82 years, Gego died in Venezuela. In response, the Fundación Gego that manages its estate founded.

Operation

1953, after moving from Caracas to Tarma, Gego painted watercolors, drew landscapes and began to woodcuts to customize. A year later, she presented two such works in the exhibition XV Salón Oficial Anual de Arte Venezolana.

After a long stay abroad Gego began with three-dimensional works and sculptures made ​​of wire, ropes and poles to experiment. Her training as an architect at the Technische Hochschule Stuttgart dominated their works. As an architect, it was the relation to space, most importantly, there is no element in her work, which would not be subordinated to the relation to space. As an engineer, to Gego dedicated the technical problems that arose when they wanted to put their works of wire ropes and rods according to their ideas. As an artist, she surprised again and again by despite the strict requirements of the room managed to bring in a touch of disorder, dynamics and poetry in their work.

The Latin American art critic Marta Traba commented in 1974: "Without this technical- professional basis, it would have been impossible for her to realize her work. "

Exhibitions (selection)

The following exhibitions presented Gego:

Solo Exhibitions

Group Exhibitions

Awards

The following awards were presented Gego for their work:

• National Prize of Venezuela for their drawing when XIX Salón Oficial Anual de Arte Venezolana
• National Prize of Venezuela of Fine Arts