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...

Casa Jardín Ortega  (1942) by Luis  Barragán . This project started out as the first house the architect designed for himself. The property was part of a larger parcel  he  purchased and subdivided. There was a small existing structure when he purchased it. The Ortega house is special, not only because it's so early in his career but it was also initially designed for the architect to use himself. It showcases many ideas  Barragán would use over and over again in other works. Barragán said this about the house: “In 1941, I made my first garden in Mexico City. I acquired a piece of land with different levels, I complemented and leveled different platforms to create a garden in compartments, recalling the beauty of the patios and gardens of the Alhambra and the Generalife in Spain“ Barragán  lived in the house until 1947. He then sold it to Alfredo Ortega , a master silversmith. Barragan did not go far. The second and final house he built for himself is ...