PAST EXHIBITIONS

The exhibition features nearly 50 silver sculptures, as well as an elaborate silver table service and other decorative objects, from the collection of Tane Orfebres of Mexico, a silversmith company founded in 1942. In the early 1970s, Tane Orfebres established the goal of creating a unique collection of works in silver by internationally renowned artists. Over the past 30 years, it has commissioned sculptures from leading painters, architects, designers and sculptors in Mexico and abroad, including Luis Barragán, Herbert Bayer, Leonora Carrington, Carlos Mérida, Edgar Negret, Arnaldo Pomodoro, Juan Soriano, Francisco Toledo and Victor Vasarely. The collection also features works by Tane Orfebres designers.

The sculptures represent a wide variety of approaches, traditions and themes, from the refined simplicity of famed architect Luis Barragán’s rectangular prism, Silver Tower, to Juan Soriano’s naturalistic Horse. A very different approach is taken by the Chilean artist Roberto Matta, whose Dedalófono is a whimsical, cartoon-like creation that juxtaposes cut-outs of an automobile, animals and human figures. It seems more a sketch than a sculpture. In an entirely different, much more sculptural vein, Waldemar Sjolander’s Eva is an elegantly abstracted figure that evokes elemental forms such as Cycladic idols; it manages to be modern and atavistic at the same time.

Although most of the artists have chosen to exploit silver’s polished and reflective surfaces, others make the viewer aware of the metal’s textural possibilities. For example, Arnaldo Pomodoro’s Esfera contrasts the smooth perfection of a gleaming surface with a jagged oxidized crevice, and English Surrealist Leonora Carrington’s Mask is hammered to give the metal a matte finish, deliberately avoiding any reflection. Collectively, the artists’ work is a tribute to the beauty of silver, a material whose allure is both ancient and timeless.

This exhibition has been made possible by The Meadows Foundation, The Department of Visual Arts and Exhibitions of the Mexican Government, and Tane Orfebres. All text in the exhibition will be in both English and Spanish.