Friday, May 19, 2023

Measuring Infinity

      One of my recent excitements has been to learn about a current exhibit at New York's Guggenheim Museum, " Gego:  Measuring Infinity".  At the Guggenheim website for the exhibit, we learn:

Gego, or Gertrud Goldschmidt (b. 1912, Hamburg; d. 1994, Caracas), first trained as an architect and engineer at the Technische Hochschule Stuttgart (now Universität Stuttgart). Fleeing Nazi persecution in 1939, she immigrated to Venezuela, where she settled permanently, fully embarking on an artistic career in the 1950s that would span more than four decades. In two- and three-dimensional works across a variety of mediums, Gego explored the relationship between line, space, and volume

After visits to the Guggenheim website, I wanted more -- and I purchased a featured book, also entitled Gego: Measuring Infinity, and available at this link.  On page 19 of this lovely book, a bit of poetry.  Written in homage to Gego in 1979 by Venezuelan poet Alfredo Silva Estrado (1933-2009), the poem speaks of Gego's experimentation with structure, space, light, shadow, line, and grid.  Quoting from the Guggenheim book, we have Estrado's words:

Measure, as is happens, is a recurring motive evoked by the poet as he attempts to apprehend infinity:

and the open that surrounds the open
the spirit breathing spirit

enveloping infinity between measured cords

two infinities facing each other
in the measure of each string


The 6th of 11 photos of Gego sculptures available here at the Guggenheim site.

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