Bichito 89/22 1989

Gego, a German-Venezuelan artist, made this small sculpture “Bichito 89/22” out of metal and wire. Look at this little bug! It's made with a kind of playful inventiveness, a joyful creation in the studio. I imagine Gego bent and twisted those wiry curls, letting the form evolve organically. The repetitive, almost obsessive, coiling of the red wire gives it a nervous energy, like the bug is vibrating, ready to spring. It sits on a dull metallic base, which, combined with the scraps of metal that sprout from underneath, gives it a found-object, cobbled-together feel. It's like she gathered what was around her to invent this strange creature. You know, there’s something very Calder-like about it, a sense of lightness and humor combined with a real structural intelligence. Artists are always in dialogue, picking up on each other’s ideas, riffing and improvising. This little sculpture seems like a testament to that ongoing conversation, a small but mighty contribution to the world of making.