In 1957, Gramcko developed a new series of untitled oil paintings in which she represented biomorphic and bulbous shapes and machine-like, isolated gears on monochromatic backgrounds. Gramcko stated, “Although I...
In 1957, Gramcko developed a new series of untitled oil paintings in which she represented biomorphic and bulbous shapes and machine-like, isolated gears on monochromatic backgrounds. Gramcko stated, “Although I was using a hard line and flat color, the forms were more expressive than they were geometric.”
In "No. 6", 1957 an organic tissue-like shape crosses the pictorial space, covering it from left to right and piercing the black background. The bent tissue brings movement to the composition in which a few spots of yellow render a three-dimensional illusion. Unusually large in size, this groundbreaking painting was one of the twelve works that Gramcko exhibited in her first international solo show, curated by Jose Gómez Sicre at the Pan American Union in Washington, DC. The post-painterly traction of the work connects Gramcko’s imagery to American postwar developments.
Elsa Gramcko: The Invisible Plot of Things, Sicardi | Ayers | Bacino, Houston, TX, May 13 – July 2, 2022. Contesting Modernity. Informalism in Venezuela 1955
-1975. Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX, October 28, 2018 to January 21, 2019. Moderno, Design for Living in Brazil, Mexico and Venezuela 1940
-1978. Blanton Museum of At, University of Texas, Austin, TX, October 11, 2015 - January 17, 2016. Moderno, Design for Living in Brazil, Mexico and Venezuela 1940-1978.
Americas Society, New York, NY, 2015, February 11 - May 16. Elsa Gramcko, Una aquimista de nuestro tiempo. Galería de Arte Nacional,
Caracas, Venezuela, 1997, September – November. Arte Constructivo Venezolano, Genesis y Desarrollo 1945-1965. Galeria de Arte Nacional,
Caracas, Venezuela, 1979. Elsa Gramcko, Etapa Geometrica. Galeria Estudio Actual, Caracas, Venezuela, 1969. South American Art Today. Dallas Museum of Art, TX. 1960. Elsa Gramcko of Venezuela. Pan American Union Museum, Washington, DC, 1959.
Publications
Rangel Gabriela, Aruna D’Souza. Elsa Gramcko: The Invisible Plot of Things. Published by Sicardi |
Ayers | Bacino, James Cohan, printed by Faenza Group, Italy, 2022, p. 40-41.
Ramírez, Mari Carmen, Tahia Rivero, María C. Gaztambide, Josefina Manrique. Contesting Modernity.
Informalism in Venezuela 1955-1975. Published by Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, reproduced in color, 2018, p.
#144.
Moderno, Design for Living in Brazil, Mexico and Venezuela 1940-1978.
Published by Americas Society, NYC, reproduced in color, 2015, February 11 -May 16, catalogue p. #174-175.