Esoteric Survey

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...

This was the 20th Anniversary of the Palm Springs Modernism Show and Sale.  To celebrate Objects USA decided not to do the show.  I still attended as a tourist, so you would think I would have more time to document the show, go to lectures and tour homes. Well, that didn't happen. As you'll see here, I basically took photos down one row. Luckily it was the best one.   First off is  Archive . In addition to some rare Dunbar in the foreground, there was a fiber work by Tanya Anguiñiga .  Then there was Gio Ponti and artwork by avant-garde Laguna Beach artist Andy Wing . Sputnik always brings the heat from Texas. This time it included some Larry Hunter. This David Wurster lamp was one of my favorite things at the show. They also had two Cynthia Sargent pieces. Red Modern always has a great mix. This year it included a pair of Max Gottschalk lounges. Billings Auction with the Ponti. There were five auction houses...

A rug by Mexican Modernist, Cynthia Sargent, Kipp Stewart table and an Eastern European textile.   Italian smalls, including a box by Gabriella Crespi and a Bitossi bulldog by Aldo Londi

Butaca Chair (1940)  by William  Spratling.  Chest by Elizabeth Jane Colter for the Fred Harvey Corporation. The chest was was used in the La Posada Hotel in Winslow, Arizona. They are being exhibited in  Found in Translation: Design in California and Mexico, 1915–1985   at LACMA is part of PST: LALA .  The exhibition examines  design dialogues between California and Mexico. This includes Americans working in Mexico, Mexicans working in California and the cultural influences and exchanges between the two.    Frank Kyle chair from his Willow series (1953). Kyle was American, but worked in Mexico City. The Peineta chair (1952) by Canadian-born designer, Edmund Spence. He worked mostly in the United States, but for a time his furniture was produced by  Industria Mueblera S.A. of Mexico. Michael van Beuren , Don Shoemaker and Clara Porset all moved to Mexico from their respective countries. Van  Beuren and Shoemaker cam...