Parallel Lines (1957–67)

Developing an artistic practice in her adopted country, Gego engaged the concepts of Venezuelan Geometric Abstraction, characterized by pure form, line, color, and geometric ordering schemes. She did the same with Cinetismo, a nationalized art movement that arose in the 1960s and drew upon the fundamental concepts of Kinetic Art (from the reek “kinesis,” meaning motion).

This selection of works on paper and sculptures from 1957-67 in this section considers Gego’s investigations of the spatial and structural possibilities of what she called “líneas paralelas” (parallel lines). Here, Gego’s use of lines, at times compressed, and at other times free, anchor her synthetic thinking of “the nothing between the lines,” which became fundamental to her quest of making the “invisible, visible.” Around 1960 Gego also began experimenting with the optical effects of motion and vibration, synthesizing her explorations of light, movement, and space—all prevalent themes in Kinetic Art. Some of the sculptures on view in this section, mostly welded, painted iron works, feature parallel tubular elements that form intersecting or superimposed geometric planes. As one engages with these works from different perspectives, the optical illusion of vibration and movement is produced, thus changing the perception of the objects themselves.