Josef Albers in Mexico

by Lauren Hinkson, Josef Albers (Artist), Joaquin Barríendos (Contributor)

Albers in "the promised land of abstract art" the little-known influence of Mexico

"Mexico is truly the promised land of abstract art," Josef Albers wrote to his former Bauhaus colleague Vasily Kandinsky in 1936. Josef Albers in Mexico reveals the profound link between the art and architecture of ancient Mesoamerica and Albers' abstract works on canvas and paper. With his wife, the artist Anni Albers, Albers toured pre-Columbian archeological sites and monuments during his 12 or more trips to Mexico and other Latin American countries between 1935 and 1968. On each visit, Albers took black-and-white photographs of pyramids, shrines, sanctuaries and landscapes, which he later assembled into rarely seen photo collages. The resulting works demonstrate Albers' continued formal experimentation with geometry, this time accentuating a pre-Columbian aesthetic.

Josef Albers in Mexico brings together photographs, photo collages, prints and significant paintings from the Variants/Adobe (1946-66) and Homage to the Square (1950-76) series from the collections of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and the Anni and Josef Albers Foundation. Two scholarly essays, an illustrated map and vivid color reproductions of paintings and works on paper illuminate this little-known period in the influential artist's practice.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction

157 pages, Hardcover

Published November 21, 2017

Reviews

[Brad B · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my introduction to Albers' work and it is fascinating to learn about the influence he took from Mayan and other pre-Colombian architecture. Many of the photographs are quite small, but the contact-sheet-like prints are the actual size that Albers printed, so it gives us a good sense of what he was working with. I don't fully agree with some of Albers' philosophy (his criticism of Diego Rivera seems unreasonably harsh), but I appreciate his refusal to label indigenous works as "primitive," and I'm inspired to learn more based on this book.

[Lorenzo Diaz campos · Rating 5 out of 5]

Catorce viajes a lo largo de casi 30 años dieron a Albers una visión diferente sobre su entorno y su quehacer, una vertiente poco explorada de este maestro de la Bauhaus.
Josef Albers y su esposa Anni llegaron a México en su primer viaje de turismo apenas dos años después de haber emigrado a los Estados Unidos huyendo de los Nazis quienes se encargaron, entre otras muchas atrocidades, de terminar con la educación de vanguardia en Alemania y en especial con la famosa Bauhaus. Estos viajes, poco estudiados hasta ahora, son de enorme relevancia en la carrera del Albers. Su influencia es notoria en su obra plástica y, entrando en detalle, inclusive en su enseñanza. Misma que marcó la segunda mitad del siglo veinte como pocos académicos lo hicieron en el mundo del arte, la arquitectura y el diseño.
Este volumen es el catálogo de la exposición que se inauguró en el Museo Guggenheim de Nueva York a principios de noviembre del año pasado y que apenas concluyó el 18 de febrero de este año, es decir, antier. La curadora, Lauren Hinkson, desempolvó parte muy valiosa del acervo del museo y construyó un discurso muy valioso. La enorme cantidad de fotografías y la obra gráfica abstracta ligada a los viajes de Albers a México nunca había sido explorada a esta profundidad antes, estudio que da nuevas luces sobre el genio de Albers, su enseñanza en las prestigiadas aulas de sendas universidades norteamericanas y su liga con nuestros antepasados.
Una fascinante línea de investigación que abre sin duda nuevos caminos de entendimiento de esta piedra angular de la pedagogía y la plástica del modernismo.

[Gabi · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you're looking for a beautiful picture book full of Albers' paintings, this isn't it. The paintings that are printed in here are relatively small, and never take up the full page. This book is much more about the words than the visuals. That's okay, the writing in here is nice too... but it's a bit disappointing as an art book, I expected more visual inspiration. The cover is such a stunning color though that it's worth having it around just for that.

[Annie · Rating 4 out of 5]

way cool to see how the architecture informed his art, also the weaving of Anni. seeing early photographs of monte alban et al fascinating, too