GEGO [Gertrud Goldschmidt]

In fall 2020, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum will present the first major New York museum retrospective devoted to the work of Gertrud Goldschmidt, also known as Gego (b. 1912, Hamburg, Germany; d.1994, Caracas, Venezuela). The exhibition within the first five ramps of the rotunda will chart the evolution of the artist’s distinctive approach to abstraction through her organic forms, linear structures, and systematic, spatial investigations. This chronological and thematic survey will include approximately 200 works of historical significance from the early 1950s to the early 1990s, including sculpture, drawings, prints, artist books, and textiles. A trained architect and engineer at the Technische Hochschule of Stuttgart, Gego fled Nazi persecution in 1939 and immigrated to Venezuela, where she remained for the rest of her life. This presentation will showcase her development across multiple disciplines as well as ground her practice within the emerging artistic movements of the second half of the twentieth century. The exhibition and its accompanying catalogue will demonstrate Gego’s significant formal and conceptual contributions to modern and contemporary art, highlighting her intersections with key transnational art movements including Geometric Abstraction and Kinetic Art in the 1950-60s, and Minimalism and Post-minimalism in the 1960-70s. The Guggenheim Museum has a distinguished history of presenting groundbreaking solo exhibitions of modern and contemporary artists whose work aligns with the founding mission championing abstract art, including Ellsworth Kelly, Agnes Martin and James Turrell. Expanding upon this legacy, the presentation aims to advance the understanding and appreciation of Gego’s work within the larger global context of twentieth century modernism. Gego is organized by Pablo León de la Barra, Curator at Large, Latin America, and Geaninne Gutiérrez-Guimarães, Associate Curator, with the support of Kyung An, Assistant Curator, Asian Art, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum.