Last Works: Tejeduras, Bichos and Bichitos (1987–91)

In the late 1980s Gego developed three final series: Tejeduras (Weavings, 1988-91), Bichos (Bugs, ca. 1987–91), and Bichitos (Small Bugs, 1987–89). Gego returned to making works on paper as her age progressively prevented her from manipulating metal and other rigid materials. Her Tejeduras are small-scale, two-dimensional works made from interwoven strips of paper whose sources include printed images of her own works, pages from magazines, and commercial leaflets. Considered in the context of the artist’s longstanding interest with weaving, knotting, and netting, this late series ultimately synthesizes the formal and conceptual methodologies that structure Gego’s artistic idiom.

Lastly, Gego’s two final sculptural series, Bichos and Bichitos, represent a total collapse and deformation of geometry, form, and the grid in the artist’s work. In Venezuelan usage bicho means animal, critter, or, most commonly, bug. It can also mean anything that does not have a specific name. With their precarious system of construction, the Bichos and Bichitos are realized with repurposed materials and other elements discarded from other works by the artist. Gego devised these chaotic assemblages with unpredictable configurations characterized by diverse shapes and textures, thus freeing herself from fixed, rigid forms and giving preference to irregular and organic structures.