PRESS RELEASE
EXHIBITION
DOUBLE SKIN Yto Barrada
June 22th to September 8th, 2019 Opening June 22th, 2019 12:00 AM – 05:00 PM
CASA LUIS BARRAGÁN Gral. Francisco Ramírez 12-14 Col. Ampliación Daniel Garza Ciudad de México
PRESS CONFERENCE Yto Barrada, Paste Papers, 2019, Courtesy of the artist, PACE, Sfeir-Semler Gallery and Galerie Polaris. Thursday 20 th, 2019
10:30 AM Casa Luis Barragán Estancia FEMSA – Casa Luis Barragán is pleased to present French-Moroccan artist With the presence of the artist and Estancia FEMSA's Yto Barrada’s first solo exhibition in Latin America, entitled Double Skin, which Artistic director. brings together a set of newly commissioned works. As the exhibition’s title
ADDITIONAL PRESS TOUR suggests, Barrada deals with notions of aesthetic ambiguity –which resonate with June 26th, 2019 05:00 PM many aspects of Barragán’s work and life. Double Skin also engages Barragán’s deep interest in magic and enigma, which he understood to be crucial elements of
PRESS CONTACT architecture, as well as with his use of the formal and symbolic tension between Antonio Zorrilla Inés Maldonado concepts such as opacity/clarity, desire/restriction, openness/enclosure. Estancia FEMSA
Images and interviews [email protected] In the studio space of Barragán’s house, Barrada covers the walls with a second skin: a wallpaper from the series Paste Papers (2019). These works are based on designs Varsovia 3, Depto. 4, Col. Juárez, Cuauhtémoc, she found in different books belonging to Luis Barragán, such as: The Grain Silo- C.P. 06600, Ciudad de México +52 (55) 5162 3830 Citadels of Morocco; Coatlicue; The Art of Gardens; Max Ernst; Spanish Andalucia estanciafemsa.mx and Parables and Evangelical Allegories, among others. The practice of decorating book covers and endpapers with paste paper designs dates back to the seventeenth
VISITS AT CASA LUIS century. Originally used by bookbinders, paste paper was also applied to line BARRAGÁN drawers in modest homes. Barrada amplifies this discrete function in her piece by By appointment only M-F: 10:00am to 5:00pm transforming the paste paper into an exterior ornament for the studio walls, thus S-S: 10:00am to 1:00pm bringing intimacy into full view. This gesture of transportation acts as a rich www.casaluisbarragan.org metaphor for the many ambiguities implicit in Barragán’s life and work.
Ticket Price Dispersed throughout the rooms of the house we also find five chromatic collages, General $400 MXN the Practice Pieces (Color Charts) (2019), made with hand-dyed silk velvets. Inspired Mexican residents $300 MXN by dyers, and the color chart sampling systems used in textile conservation, these International students $200 MXN pieces are inscribed within Barrada’s long-standing interest in educational materials, Mexican students $150 MXN platforms, and structures. Both Mexico and Morocco boast long histories of natural dye production, including cochineal, indigo, and Tyrian purple. Casa Luis Barragán does not have a parking lot. We Lastly, in the library of the house we find the short film Horsehair, Confetti, and Rice suggest the ones in the (2019), projected directly onto a yellow monochrome painting made in Barragán’s street José Morán no.144 y architecture studio. The film is a piece of experimental cinema, with a strong no.185 Facebook: @EstanciaFEMSA emphasis on materials and textures, in which a wealth of colors and shapes unravel. Instagram: @EstanciaFEMSA The hallucinatory quality of the film also alludes to historical artistic imaginaries that For more information: stem from both Mexico and Morocco. As such, the exhibition pays homage to the estanciafemsa.mx strong influence of Morocco’s vernacular architecture—and the country’s material culture in general—on Barragán’s, and his friend and notable collaborator Mathias Goeritz’ architectural oeuvres. Furthermore, Double Skin is framed within Barrada’s long engagement with architecture and the history of modernism through multiple past projects.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Yto Barrada's (b. 1971, Paris) work combines the strategies of the documentary film with the metaphorical approach to imagery in her photographic, installation, and sculptural work. Engaging with the performativity of archival practices and public interventions and often comprised of both original work and found objects, Barrada’s installations reinterpret social relationships, uncover subaltern histories, and reveal the prevalence of fiction in institutionalized narratives.
Her work is held in the collections of Centre Pompidou, Paris; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; The Museum of Modern Art, New York; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; and Tate, London. Her exhibitions have included Kunsthalle, Basel; Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art, Rotterdam; Jeu de Paume, Paris; Palais de Tokyo, Paris; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; The Renaissance Society, Chicago; Whitechapel Gallery, London; Hayward Gallery, London; Museu de Arte de São Paulo; The Power Plant, Toronto; and the 2007 and 2011 Venice Biennales.
She won the inaugural Ellen Auerbach Award in Berlin in 2006, was named Deutsche Bank Artist of the Year in 2011, won the Abraaj Group Art Prize in 2015, and was awarded the 2019 Roy R. Neuberger Prize. The prize includes a special exhibition titled The Dye Garden, held at the Neuberger Museum of Art in 2019 and is the artist's premiere presentation of the work in the United States, following its first showing at the American Academy in Rome in 2018.
Barrada is the founder of Cinémathèque de Tanger (2006–ongoing), North Africa’s premier cinema cultural center and film archive, housed in a renovated 1930s film theater in Tangier.
ABOUT ESTANCIA FEMSA
Estancia FEMSA-Casa Luis Barragán is a cultural and artistic platform hosted by Casa Luis Barragán with the support of FEMSA Collection. With the artistic direction of Eugenia Braniff and Patrick Charpenel, the initiative presents a series of exhibitions, interventions, performances, academic activities and editorial content that dialogue with the historical context offered by the house, as well as the heritage of Luis Barragán, one of the most relevant architects of the 21st Century. The curatorial program introduces internationally acclaimed artists whose work invites the spectator to ponder about the possibilities of the modern and contemporary art disciplines within a particular context.
ABOUT CASA LUIS BARRAGÁN
Built in 1948, Casa Luis Barragán is one of the most important contemporary architectonic places in the world, recognized as a World Heritage Site by the UNESCO in 2004. This organization considers Casa Luis Barragán as a masterpiece in modernism’s development, for including traditional and vernacular elements in new synthesis, as well as several philosophical and artistic trends from all eras. Luis Barragán’s influence in the architectural world increases day by day, and his house – which has been preserved just like it was back when he lived in it, until his death in 1988 – is an essential place in Mexico City for architects and art connoisseurs globally. This place, which includes Barragán’s home and workshop, is property of the Jalisco State’s Government and Fundación de Arquitectura Tapatía Luis Barragán.
ABOUT FEMSA COLLECTION
For more than 40 years, FEMSA Collection seeks to preserve, document, consolidate, promote and share modern and contemporary Latin American art. Established in 1977 as part of the commitment made by the company towards the integral development of its employees, families, and the communities where they operate, it is internationally renowned as one of the most important corporate collections. Gathering more than 1200 works, the Collection offers a journey through the evolution, diversity, and heritage of the arts that have unfolded in Latin America throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Through active initiatives that include exhibitions, artwork loans, editorial publications and diverse academic and educational activities, FEMSA shares its Collection with diverse audiences in different latitudes, accomplishing its objective of endorsing cultural heritage and promoting artistic appreciation. FEMSA Collection is part of FEMSA Foundation, which seeks to create positive impact on people and communities through social investment projects for sustainability.