Diego Rivera. Agrarian Leader Zapata. 1931. Fresco on reinforced cement in galvanized-steel framework. Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Fund
This year marks the 150th anniversary of the Mexican army’s defeat of French troops at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862, known colloquially today as Cinco de Mayo. It is now commemorated far north of the border, as Americans have embraced the date as a colorful celebration of Mexican art, food, and music.
Each of the MoMA Design Store’s Destination: Design projects has a unique visual identity inspired by the character of the region’s product collection. In the past, graphics have been designed in-house or by one of the project’s participating designers.
Ricardo Salas. Cocktail Glasses. 2010.
Ana Elena Mallet is an independent curator based in Mexico City. She specializes in contemporary design and provided curatorial direction for Destination: Mexico, the latest in the MoMA Design Store’s Destination: Design series, which showcases emerging designers from around the world.
Five for Friday, written by a variety of MoMA staff members, is our attempt to spotlight some of the compelling, charming, and downright curious works in the Museum’s rich collection.
Originally a local commemoration of an outnumbered Mexican army’s 1862 victory over French troops at the Battle of Puebla, Cinco de Mayo has grown to include a major American celebration of Mexican culture and Mexican American heritage. In (belated) celebration of the holiday, here is just a tiny sample of MoMA’s rich collection of work by Mexican artists—and by artists from the U.S. and abroad who have responded to Mexico’s people and natural beauty. (If this piques your interest, be sure to visit MoMA this fall for our Diego Rivera: Murals for The Museum of Modern Art</a> exhibition.)
Gabriel Orozco. Installation view of Mobile Matrix (2006) at The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Graphite on gray whale skeleton. Biblioteca Vasconcelos, Mexico City. Photo: Charles Watlington. © 2010 Gabriel Orozco
Every work at a museum may compel a viewer to wonder how it was made or where it came from. However, there are some works whose genesis provokes a special degree of collective fascination. Gabriel Orozco’s Mobile Matrix, currently on view in MoMA’s Gabriel Orozco exhibition, is one such work.
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