Don Shoemaker / Señal Mexico

Last November I went to the Don S. Shoemaker exhibition at the Museo de Arte Moderno in Mexico City

Don Shoemaker was born in Nebraska. He fought in WWII and moved to Mexico in 1947. Shortly after, he started a furniture and craft business in Señal SA in Morelia, Michoacán and lived there until his death in 1990.

The museum worked with Don's grandson, Stanley Shoemaker. This would explain the substantial ephemera stash they had on display.

The piece on the right is a lamp.

A painting by Don

In 1975 the Museo de Arte Moderno included work by Shoemaker in an exhibition on Mexican design. This photo comes from Karen Goyer, who has written a pretty scathing review of the 2016 exhibition. She says there are numerous fakes in the exhibition. It's a pretty widely-known fact that people are reproducing Shoemaker designs and they include fake labels. There are a few shops in Mexico City that are full of them. It seems like a museum working with the family would be able to vet the fakes out, but Karen thinks otherwise. There are also some contemporary pieces by Don's grandson, Stanley, which are noted by the museum. She doesn't feel those are right either.  You can read all the dirt here. 

Image source: Karen Goyer at donshoemaker.com