Gallery: ‘Gego. Line as Object’ at the Henry Moore Institute

‘Sculpture, three-dimensional forms of solid material. Never what I do!’

Gego (1912–1994) may not have considered herself a sculptor, but the Henry Moore Institute in Leeds begs to differ in its latest exhibition of her work. The German-born, Venezuela-based artist exploded the concept of a ‘line’, drawing it off the page and into three dimensions. ‘Sculpture is concerned with weight, scale, gravity, light, space and encounter: terms embodied by Gego’s study of the line as object’, argues the HMI. ‘Here at…a centre for the study of sculpture, her work is claimed for sculpture.’

Gego’s weblike constructions draw thin outlines around patches of air, forcing the eye to renegotiate the way it sees and assesses space. These three-dimensional works are the highlights of a show that also includes watercolours, ink drawings, prints and lithographs (until 19 October). Flattened back into photographs, her sculptures (or ‘bichos’, as she called them) are once again reconstituted and reframed…