Feb 19

Feb 19 Recover/Uncover by MASA

MASA is delighted to present Recover/Uncover, an exhibition examining the convention of taxonomy as an organizational exercise that reveals its own ambiguities.

With newly commissioned, unique and limited-edition pieces by designers and artists whose inquiries defy strict categorization, MASA celebrates contradiction as a reflection of the ongoing process of becoming and self-definition — presenting objects as tools for living, contemplation and, most of all, reconciliation.

Recover/Uncover features several works whose use is both fulfilled and undermined by deliberate design. Vases from Mexico-born and Los Angeles-based artist Milena Muzquiz overflow their purpose with multitudinous, accumulative surfaces. A screen by the Mexico City-based design collective VIDIVIXI divides the room while expanding it —opening up the visual field with a highly polished chrome surface. An Artwork by Mexican artist Tania Pérez Córdova hints at function as less an inherent quality than as a relationship between things, in this case, a bent piece of window glass holding a small pool of cleaner. And exemplary furniture by New York-based designer Misha Kahn includes a woven chandelier of fibers and recovered detritus, an unraveling texture that coalesces into undulating form.

Tania Perez Cordova 'They say its common'

Misha Kahn 'Down the Road to the Right' Courtesy of Fridman Benda

Other works in the exhibition consider the relationship of tension to mass. A new rubber light by Brian Thoreen continues the Mexico City-based designer’s exploration of precariousness and balance, while ribbons of metal sheeting appear at once ethereal and exaggerated in lighting from Mexican designer Héctor Esrawe. Thoreen and Esrawe present an infinitude of variations within set geometric parameters; so too do plinths from Savvy Studio and Umberto Bellardi Ricci, and a shelving unit from architecture and design collective Tezontle reference how function can contain its own multitudes. In modularity, objects are both defined and yet become almost formless — endlessly expandable — a set of individual elements responding to space and requirement.

Brian Thoreen 'Untitled' and Atelier van Lieshout 'Black Funnelman'

Absence, both implied and physical, is given varied presence in several works. In a room- spanning installation, Mexico City-based artist Perla Krauze uncovers discarded material to create new arrangements, including such castoff elements as incised cutting mats from stone yards and cracks cast from sidewalk upheaval. Similarly, a woven horsehair-topped bench by London-based designer Hollie Bowden and a carved stone seating arrangement by Mexico City-based sculptor Adeline de Monseignat use central voids to emphasize an overall sense of solidity, while new works made in Mexico by Tbilisi, Georgia-based studio Rooms evoke ancient ruins in a contemporary design vernacular.

Recover/Uncover by MASA on Anniversary Magazine

Hollie Bowden x Joe Sweeney 'Live, Laugh, Love II'

Pablo Davila 'Y así pues sigue dando vueltas la rueda' & Savvy Studio 'Zoccalo series' with 'Mano Light'

Mario Garcia Torres 'Tallé la forma del Miguelito en esta piedra para poder sentir su energia en todo el cuerpo, 2020'

Recover/Uncover takes place in a castle built by the German Royals in the early 1900s. Located in the San Miguel Chapultepec neighborhood of the city, the two-story building is at a walking distance from galleries such as Kurimanzutto, Labor, Casa Barragan, and Gilardi. Although it has a German-influenced architecture, the house presents many elements inspired by the English culture, such as the single hung sash window mechanism found through all windows. Fifteen years ago, an advertising agency operating from this building stripped the second floor of its original features and left it abandoned. However, the team at Archipielago recently acquired the property, which created a unique opportunity for MASA to breathe new life to this singular and historic castle.

Exhibiting artists:

Atelier Van Lieshout

Hollie Bowden

Jose Dávila

Pablo Dávila

Héctor Esrawe

EWE

Mario García Torres

Misha Kahn

Perla Krauze

LANZA Atelier

Adeline de Monseignat

Milena Muzquiz

Tania Pérez Córdova

Jerónimo Reyes-Retana

Gabriel Rico

Rooms

Savvy Studio and

Umberto Bellardi Ricci

Joe Sweeney

Tezontle

Brian Thoreen

VIDIVIXI

VISSIO

Co-curated by Su Wu

“Within a set of binaries, MASA is the /. The pieces in Recover/Uncover exist along a spectrum of indeterminates rather than at a stasis, defying strict archetypes in favor of an ongoing exploration of purpose and expression.”

— Su Wu

Recover/Uncover
February 6 – April 8, 2020

Manuel Gomez Pedraza 72, San Miguel Chapultepec, 11850, Mexico City (Entrance on Gobernador Tiburcio Montiel 5)

Words by Su Wu
All Images by Genevieve Lutkin

About MASA

MASA is a nomadic gallery, blurring the line between art and design. To show, to curate, to write, to build, to question, to provoke, to educate, to learn: these are the desires. With digital, physical, and conceptual presence, MASA challenges convention and presents ideas on a global stage. With an effort to open up conversation and dialogue around material culture. MASA curates exhibitions offering work with integrity, direction and value. MASA was founded in Mexico City by a curator and creative director Age Salajõe, designers Héctor Esrawe and Brian Thoreen, Cristobal Riestra of the contemporary art gallery Galería OMR, along with collectors Roberto Diaz Sesma, Isaac Bissu, and Constanza Garza. Their background in art, design and architecture are reflected in MASA’s presentation of design at its boundaries.