Hesse, Eva

Hesse, Eva

(hĕs`ə), 1936–70, American sculptor, b. Hamburg, Germany. Hesse's sculpture displays an antiformalism that developed in the late 1960s in reaction against conventional geometric constructivism. Using such materials as latex, fiberglass, wire, and rope, she built numerous repeating series of large and eccentric forms. These were grouped irregularly over the floor or hung from the ceiling. Hesse's innovative work was cut short by her death from a brain tumor.

Bibliography

See B. Barrette, Eva Hesse Sculpture (1989).

Hesse, Eva

(1936–70) sculptor; born in Hamburg, Germany. She and her family escaped Nazism and emigrated to New York City (1939), where she attended Pratt Institute (1952) and Cooper Union (1952–55). After a trip to Germany (1964–65) she specialized in organic surrealistic images, as in Untitled (known as Seven Poles) (1970). Based in New York City, she died of a brain tumor.