In his review of Nenias, the exhibition of works by Gerd Leufert (1914–98), the critic Roberto Guevara (1932–98) stresses the use of space that transforms a visual work of art into something viewers can experience as they walk through it; that is, into an exhibition. Although the researcher Victoria de Stefano (Nenias, Museo de Bellas Artes, 1985) has already discussed the underlying meaning of these forms that were conceived in 1969 for a book—focusing a little more than Guevara does on the editorial origins and the emotional content of the earliest ones in the series—Guevara provides a wealth of detail that helps to grasp the scale of this new generation of Nenias. He says: “the forms fill the viewer’s inner and surrounding space, their perception,” and “they are large, distinct forms that suddenly live with us.” Guevara describes the solemn impact of the images that flood the viewer’s mind, making it irrelevant whether they were painted or projected on a wall. The critic associates Leufert’s work with the autonomy of contemporary art, which seems to be a logical conclusion when contemplating this project. To which could be added Leufert’s concern for design in its purest sense, and to what extent form (with no apparent function) transcends graphic design to address other areas of transmission.
To read another critical article about Gerd Leufert’s work, see the essay published in 1982 by Alfredo Chacón “‘Visibilia’ en el punto neutro de la figuración [sobre Gerd Leufert]” [doc. no. 1160567].