Mathias Goeritz

The Mensaje series is related to Goeritz’s intention of making a spiritual experience visible without using Christian iconography. Goeritz was led to gold as a symbol of infinity, an expression of a religiosity that exalts death and life or conflates them into a love/death unity. His monochromatic series plaques began in 1957 and are considered to have reached their fullest expression in the 1960s. For example, Message (Mensaje) from 1958-62 was made from a punched sheet of steel that, like the altarpiece of a baroque church, was then carefully covered with gold leaf. The work's rich texture and profound luminosity are designed to trigger a visceral reaction in the viewer and foster contemplation.
Goeritz's use of gold should also be correlated with the religious iconography of Byzantine and pre-Renaissance Western Christian imagery, in which gold symbolizes divine transcendence. The punctured surfaces can be considered an ‘icon sign’ of a confrontation with tragic human existence. The Mensaje series is sought after for its non-objective and modern solutions and the uniqueness of its materials.