The Properties of Light. Luis Barragán-Fred Sandback

Proyectos Monclova is delighted to announce the solo exhibition Fred Sandback: The Properties of Light (Inside and Outside) from May 26–August 18, 2018, in conjunction with the new publication Luis Barragán, Fred Sandback: Las propiedades de la luz/The Properties of Light, 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 (1902–88). 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.

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 refined example of that respectful dialogue in absen- tia: 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).