Museo Franz Mayer in Mexico City opens 300% Spanish Design Exhibition

Written by Willie Fitts Wednesday, 18 January 2012 20:32

MEXICO CITY.- Through its 300 original pieces (100 chairs, 100 lamps and 100 posters) showing the rich Spanish contribution to the world's creative culture, and with prestigious designer Juli Capella as its curator, the exhibition attempts to reveal the creative potential of Spanish design, widely publicising its best designers, brands and companies. Spanish design includes many disciplines, and has borne excellent fruit in all of them, such as architecture, interior design, handicraft, jewellery, fashion, graphic design, etc. In spite of this, on this occasion, three everyday elements which help us in our daily tasks have been chosen: chairs, lamps and posters. On view through 8 November, 2009  at the  Museo Franz Mayer.

These three collections symbolise structure and comfort (chairs), progress and magic (lamps) and visual communication (posters). The three products have experienced the tumultuous history of the 20th Century, Spain has been the ideal setting for their introduction and evolution towards the 21st Century.

Historical setting - Spanish design dates back to the Industrial Revolution, and its development occurs later than in other European countries. During the 30s, certain movements arise around the rising central European rationalism, but the Civil War truncates these expectations, and it is only after the 50s when Spain returns to the design area thanks to architects. In the 60s the first professional design institutions are created, with several production companies arising, with inspiration from Nordic countries or Italy.

In the 80s, once democracy is restored and Spain becomes part of the European Community, Spain lives a design boom on all levels, becoming better known abroad. The milestones of 1992, the Expo in Seville and

The Olympic Games in Barcelona, mark the growth of the dissemination of Spanish creativity and, finally, following a decade of settling and commercialisation, design is currently going through a period of generational renovation, with growing interest from the industry, which has started to need it as a factor contributing to innovation and competitiveness.

It is very hard to define a creative task, as it is carried out by very different kinds of people, with very disparate styles and aims. Suffice to say that variety and even clashes are a defining feature of creation in Spain, a land rich in languages and traditions within its borders.

The design of furniture and lamps shares certain features with industrial products: these are elements produced with average, non-sophisticated technologies, with some exceptions and always by small or, at most, medium-sized companies. Spanish design is usually imaginative and daring, and seen from the outside, it is considered expressive and rooted in Mediterranean culture. There is certain boldness in the choice of colours and a suitable use of materials, particularly woodwork, and which reaches heights of quality and warmness.

As far as the graphic design of posters is concerned, free of the production processes and the technology restrictions or material limitations which a tri-dimensional object brings, the creative scope is much wider, but, nevertheless, we still find common features such as the great expressive capacity and the boldness of the message. The artistic influence of the beginning of the 20th Century is also notorious, with the direct contribution of great artists, which was later realised in the 80s with the gestural blossoming applied to the logo of the Barcelona Olympic Games. There has also been a typographical revolution with the avalanche of fonts provided by computers, which has uniquely marked recent productions.

Among the younger generations we find ironical and playful proposals. This is apparent in the significant concern for recycling, redesign and assembly of pieces in the quest for alternative products. There is also an underlying new environmental culture, with an ecological concern which is obvious in the choice of materials and typologies. These are designs which wish to communicate with the receiver or user, never consumer, where the communicative and emotional nature of the works is emphasised with respect to functionality and aesthetics. Among the youngest talents we can highlight Emili Padrós and Ana Mir, Martí Guixé, Ramón Úbeda, Martin Ruiz de Azúa, Javier Hayón, and Isidro Ferrer, among others.

The aim of the exhibition is to reveal the creative potential of Spanish design, not very well-known to date, and make its designers, brands and companies known. This aim can be summarized, based on the following premises: Showing that Spain has a rich creative tradition, which is centuries old. Discovering that Spain is in the vanguard of design and is going through a moment of emergence. Explaining the richness and variety of styles within Spanish design. Transmitting the idea that products manufactured or designed in Spain have a high level of quality.

The idea of the exhibition is to show a select repertoire, broad but limited at the same time, of three arts with a great level of development in Spain: graphic design, illumination and furniture.

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