Esoteric Survey

Casa Estudio Conlon Nancarrow, designed by Juan O'Gorman (1948,1972) Nancarrow was an  American composer who moved to Mexico City in 1940.  He joined the Communist Party in the United States in 1930 and in 1937 volunteered for the Abraham Lincoln Brigade to fight Franco fascism in the Spanish Civil War. Facing political blacklisting upon returning to the United States, he moved to Mexico City.  His closest friend in Mexico was painter-architect Juan O'Gorman. The Nancarrow house and studio was designed by O'Gorman and built in two phases. The small front house and music studio came in 1948 and the second in 1972. O'Gorman designed the second building as a wedding present to his dear friend. This was O'Gorman's final architectural project. Conlon lived in the house until his passing in 1997. It's still owned by his family, although his music and most of his instruments are owned by a foundation in Switzerland. The stone mosaics or petro-murals were the second...

A Handmade Modernism, Artisanal Design in Mexico, 1952–2022, curated by  Ana Elena Mallet The exhibition takes place at the MUAC at UNAM in Mexico City. The exhibition looks at  craft design that was produced in Mexico from 1950 to the present. It starts with  Clara Porset and the 1952 El arte en la vida diaria: Exposición de objetos de buen diseño hechos en México.  This was the  first design exhibition Porset organized.  The exhibition fittingly begins with designs by Porset. A number of them we part of the 1952 exhibition. Clara Porset design produced by Ruiz Galindo Industries lounge chair, 1957 Silla Totonaca by Porset Tea cart by Porset Michael van Beuren This Cynthia Sargent rug looked familiar. On closer inspection it turns out that it was mine.  Here it is . The collector I sold it to loaned it for the exhibition.   Michael van Beuren I did not do a great job documenting all the artists and designers. Luckily the curator,  Ana...