InVisible. Glass Design - Museo Franz Mayer
- The Franz Mayer Museum and Nouvel present Glass Design, an exhibition of over 500 glass pieces that offers a precise look at the technical, formal and stylistic possibilities of glass, one of this fascinating material.
- Visitors will have the chance to see pieces created by Jan Hendrix, Perla Valtierra, Edgar Orlaineta, Julie Richoz, Mauricio Lara, Brian Thoreen and Frida Escobedo, among many other outstanding designers.
- With this exhibition, the Museo Franz Mayer continues to explore the gap between its collection and new artistic and design narratives, and attests to Mexico's establishment as a benchmark in contemporary glass design.
InVisible. Glass Design, an exhibition curated by industrial designer Emiliano Godoy, explores the production of Nouvel, Grupo Pavisa and Vissio, and offers a precise look at the material, technical and formal possibilities of glass, one of our environment's most fascinating materials.
With over 500 pieces ranging from everyday objects to artistic pieces, this curatorial proposal addresses some of the themes that shaped Franz Mayer's passion for collecting: perfection and technical refinement, formal and stylistic explorations, as well as the creation of languages and design patterns that, on the one hand, account for the cultural references of his time and, on the other, open new creative spaces.
Arranged around four thematic sections—Diversity and Excellence; Innovation and Technology; Form and Beauty;"And everything for a seed”—the exhibition examines the wide range of possibilities and solutions produced throughout Grupo Pavisa's almost seven decades of experience, and Nouvel's own 25-year history: patterns, forms and silhouettes, recognizable from our everyday life, ranging from vases, perfume bottles, tableware and tequila bottles to glasses, shot glasses or ashtrays, but arranged in such a way that what emerges in the face of this diversity is the formal will and rationality of a design that begins with an understanding of the possibilities of a complex yet surprising material.
In the second section, we have designed an experience that will allow visitors to interact with glassmaking tools, to get to know the different production processes, as well as the elements that intervene in the production of glass objects: samples, sketches, casts and production schemes.
The third section is focused on presenting the formal and expressive limits of glass with new pieces conceived by Jan Hendrix, Perla Valtierra, Edgar Orlaineta, Jorge Yazpik, Mauricio Lara and Frida Escobedo, as well as the latest collaboration between Héctor Esrawe, Emiliano Godoy and Brian Thoreen for Vissio.
The last part of the exhibition is a dialogue between the contemporary production of glass using the "pepita” engraving technique and the collection that Franz Mayer built up throughout his life. From this collection of 259 historical pieces of glass, we selected those where it is possible to recognize the “pepita” technique and its evolution throughout the traditions of Europe, New Spain and finally Mexico, with one of the producers that keep this tradition alive: Casa Dragones, who will create a commemorative piece as part of this exhibition.
With this exhibition, which will be open from October 10, 2019 to January 12, 2020, the Museo Franz Mayer continues to explore the gap between art and design and attests to Mexico's establishment as a benchmark in contemporary glass design.
InVisible. Glass Design is part of the Abierto Mexicano de Diseño, an international festival that every year brings together and celebrates Mexico's design community in all its range and diversity. As is customary, every October the Abierto Mexicano de Diseño opens up a space for creativity and contemporary design in Mexico City's Historic Center, and the Museo Franz Mayer is one of the key hubs of the festival's activities.
