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Fred Sandback at Proyectos Monclova

August 18, 2018

Artist: Fred Sandback

Exhibition title: The Properties of Light

Venue: Proyectos Monclova, Mexico City, Mexico

Date: May 26 – August 18, 2018

Photography: all images copyright and courtesy of the artist and Proyectos Monclova, Mexico City

Proyectos Monclova is delighted to announce the solo exhibition “Fred Sandback: Las propiedades de la luz (de adentro hacia afuera)”, in conjunction with the new publication “The Properties of Light. Luis Barragán-Fred Sandback”, and a panel discussion.

At the time of his exhibition at the Tamayo Museum in 2002, the sculptor Fred Sandback (1943–2003) visited the Convento de las Capuchinas Sacramentarias (1955) by Luis Barragán (1902–1988). He was deeply moved, particularly by the architect’s play with light and shadow as formal elements in his practice. When Proyectos Monclova mounted a Sandback exhibition in 2016, the Sandback Estate proposed temporarily installing his sculptures in several Barragán buildings, and the owners graciously agreed. Sculptures were mounted at Casa Luis Barragán (1948), Casa Antonio Gálvez (1955), Cuadra San Cristóbal (1966–68), and Casa Gilardi (1975–77).

To celebrate the book documenting this project, Proyectos Monclova will present an exhibition of selected sculptures by Sandback featured in the publication and host a panel discussion between Daniel Garza Usabiaga, Amavong Panya, and Polina Stroganova at the gallery: Saturday, May 26, 2018, at 12 noon.

The full-color monograph examines the shared interest in the properties of light and color in the works of the prominent Minimalist sculptor Fred Sandback and the Pritzker Prize winning architect Luis Barragán. This legacy of interest, which both the artist and architect considered central to their practices, continues to inspire today.

“The Barragán-Sandback pairing gives us a unique and very re ned example of that respectful dialogue in absentia: on the one hand, both practitioners are now no longer with us; on the other, their ideas and creativity are still very much present, vital, and forceful. They have a clear-cut place in our mental archive and evoke very particular iconographies,” writes the art historian Federica Zanco.

“The Properties of Light. Luis Barragán-Fred Sandback” is published by Proyectos Monclova and Hatje Cantz. ISBN 978-3-7757-4382-2 (English and Spanish).

Fred Sandback: Las propiedades de la luz (de adentro hacia afuera), Installation view at Proyectos Monclova, Mexico City, 2018, Courtesy of Fred Sandback Archive and Proyectos Monclova, Photo: Rodrigo Viñas