In a Cloud, in a Wall, in a Chair:
Six Modernists in Mexico at Midcentury

This exhibition explores Mexico’s impact on the work of Clara Porset, Lola Álvarez Bravo, Anni Albers, Ruth Asawa, Cynthia Sargent, and Sheila Hicks. It takes its title from a quote by Clara Porset, a political exile from Cuba who became one of Mexico’s most prominent modern furniture designers. Influenced by Bauhaus ideas, she believed that design could reshape cities, elevate the quality of life, and solve large-scale social problems. This approach informed her 1952 exhibition Art in Daily Life, in whose catalogue she wrote, “There is design in everything … in a cloud, in a wall, in a chair, in the sea, in the sand, in a pot,” encouraging us to look at both the natural and machine world for inspiration and ideas.

The Art Institute of Chicago

The design of this exhibition took inspiration in several things–on one hand, Mexico City in the 1950s, when it was in a impactful moment of modernization with master plans and industry: a lot of dynamism, structures under construction, vibrancy and boldness. On the other hand, the care put into craft and hand-made work. The boldness of the city is juxtaposed with the subtlety of this artists’ works. 

The display surfaces coming out of the walls suggest drawing tables, workshop spaces, canvases and raw materials found at these artists’ studios, and within the exhibition space are used to feature process works. The show makes an homage to modernism by using materials in its true form and finish and by displaying all structures as part of the design composition. In a similar fashion, the wall structures throughout the exhibition were exposed and modular. The layout of the space makes connections between the artists, revealing similarities and recurrent ideas among them, drawing the viewer towards impressive sight lines created by Lola Alvarez Bravo’s collages. These collages, which serve as a mechanism to bring historic context to the exhibition, were originally part of a publication. At the galleries, these were enlarged to architectural scale and placed at an angle to emphasize the movement and dynamism in their compositions.

Curated by Zoë Ryan
On view at The Art Institute of Chicago September 6th, 2019 to January 12th, 2020