14 Facts About Harry Abend

Harry Abend, OFM was a Polish-born Venezuelan sculptor and architect.

In 1963, at the age of 26, Harry Abend received the National Sculpture Prize of Venezuela for his work "Forma" 1961.

In 1976 Harry Abend moved to London where he continued developing his work and exhibited in galleries such as the Roundhouse Gallery and the Hayward Gallery.

Around this time Harry Abend began to receive commissions to stage interventions in urban and architectural environments, such as the cement mural on the facade of the Teatro Teresa Carreno, and the interior design of the Sala Plenaria in the east tower of Parque Central, both in Caracas.

Between 1965 and 1970, Harry Abend was the professor of tridimensional composition at the Neumann Institute of Design, where other renowned artists such as Gego, Gerd Leufert, Nedo, Manuel Quintana Castillo, Guillermo Meneses, and Luisa Zuloaga de Palacios taught similar courses.

Harry Abend established himself in London for six years, then returned to Caracas to continue his artistic work.

Harry Abend's sculptures are done mainly in wood, bronze, and concrete; he is known for designing high-scale architectural elements of important buildings, such as the facade of the Teatro Teresa Carreno, the ceiling of the Caracas Israeli Union synagogue, and the new perimeter fence of the Court of Supreme Justice in Venezuela.

Harry Abend was a skilled engraver and illustrator; he engaged in jewelry making, working primarily with gold, silver and precious gems.

Harry Abend participated in the Taller de Quebrada Honda, organized on the occasion of British sculptor Kenneth Armitage's visit, and the works produced during the workshop were shown at the exhibition by Kenneth Armitage and eight Venezuelan sculptors.

Harry Abend created different types of constructive-geometric assemblages, some by means of thick strips whose structural severity contrasted with their irregular reliefs, others combining small pieces arrayed in a rigorous and, at the same time, delicate order, and presented them in the exhibition Puertas, ventanas y relieves at the Sala Mendoza.

In later pieces, Harry Abend used wood from trunks of trees that had been cut to make space for urban expansion.

Harry Abend produced a series of conceptual works in which he placed leftover shavings of his woodwork in boxes, giving birth to a sort of "esculturas en negativo".

Harry Abend exhibited in numerous galleries, museums and art events around the world, some of which are:.

Harry Abend was married to Venezuelan virtuoso pianist and pedagogue Judit Jaimes, with whom he had two daughters, Blanca and Elena Abend.