Gego/Gravity

Gego/Gravity examines the structural system employed in Serie de nueve, 1969, a series of five sculptures created by the twentieth-century Venezuelan artist and architect Gego (1912-1994), through the lens of a new and essential term in the artist’s practice: gravity. The present research argues that Serie de nueve can be viewed as a model for her most notable work Reticulárea, 1969, because of its material and structural similarities to the canonical installation. Informed by gravity as an analytical lens, this thesis presents a new critical term, double pull, which describes the structural schema of simultaneous suspension and rest employed in Serie de nueve and Reticulárea. Additionally, drawing on the theories of artists Paul Klee and Robert Morris, and writings of art historians Rosalind Krauss and Hal Foster, this thesis aims to situate Gego’s practice in canonical narratives of twentieth-century sculpture.