Tamarind Lithography Workshop and reticular studies (1963–70)

The works presented in this section embody Gego’s milestone developments from 1963 to 1970. The 1960s, in particular, brought much change to her experiments across various mediums. While Gego had first visited the United States in 1959, her travels there became more frequent. She received invitations, in 1963 and again in 1966, to attend the Tamarind Lithography Workshop in Los Angeles, where she produced a robust compilation of prints and artist’s books. The selection in this section provides a sense of Gego’s evolving inquiries into line, form, and space, and her use of new techniques and materials. Experimenting with embossing, engraving, etching, and lithography, the artist became an expert printmaker during this period.

At the cusp of a new decade, in 1969, Gego made a decisive shift from “líneas paralelas” (parallel lines) to “reticuláreas,” or “reticular area,” her term for the various reticular forms (nets or net-like structures), in her two- and three-dimensional production. The untitled drawings on view in this section from 1969-70 were made by Gego during a period of intensive study and experimentation with the design of reticular forms. Rendered in ink on paper, these abstract compositions comprise interconnected geometric shapes, such as triangles and squares, that collectively generate the impression of an undulating mesh or web.