08-05-2019

Lake Verea: Paparazza Moderna exhibition at the Vitra Design Museum

Philip Johnson, Rudolph M. Schindler, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Marcel Breuer, Walter Gropius, Richard Neutra,

Lake Verea ( Francisca Rivero-Lake & Carla Verea),

Weil am Rhein, Germany,

Exhibitions,

Exhibition, Vitra Design Museum,

The houses by Walter Gropius, Marcel Breuer, Richard Neutra, Rudolph M. Schindler, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Philip Johnson as you've never seen them before ... this could be the subtitle of the current exhibition at the Vitra Design Museum Gallery, which brings the works of two Mexican artists, Francisca Rivero-Lake and Carla Verea, to Europe for the very first time.



Lake Verea: Paparazza Moderna exhibition at the Vitra Design Museum

The Paparazza Moderna exhibition, which is in progress at the Vitra Design Museum, with works by the Mexican artists Francisca Rivero-Lake and Carla Verea, gives an unusual, light-hearted and ironic portrait of single-family houses designed by some of the renowned modernist architects such as Walter Gropius, Marcel Breuer, Richard Neutra, Rudolph M. Schindler, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Philip Johnson.

It is the first time that the Mexican duo has presented its work in Europe. Between 2011 and 2018, during repeated trips to the United States, Francisca Rivero-Lake and Carla Verea captured images in paparazzi style of the Lovell House (1927-1929) and the VDL House (1932) by Richard Neutra which like the Wilson House (1939) by R.M. Schindler are in Silverlake, California, the Hagerty House (1938) and the Abele House (1940) by Walter Gropius and Marcel Breuer in Massachusetts, the Glass House (1949) by Phillip Johnson in New Canaan - Connecticut, the Farnsworth House (1945- 51) and the McCormick House (1952) by Mies Van der Rohe in Illinois.
Just like the paparazzi, who without warning try to capture the stars with their lens to depict them in everyday private situations in normal life, so the two Mexican artists give back to the observers unique and poetic portraits of single-family houses, designed by the most famous modernist architects. The buildings no longer present themselves as “stars” which are set up and prepared for a photo shoot, they are “spontaneous”, photographed just as they are in everyday life. The Vitra Design Museum is showing 24 works, including photographs and videos. The works, which Francisca Rivero-Lake and Carla Verea call "architectural portraits", are compositions of two to ten photographs of the building that offer an intimate and contemporary perspective on the works by these masters of modern architecture.

And there is no shortage of gossip! The artists treat the houses as real VIPs and their playful interpretation, which is voyeuristic at times, is not lacking in a bit of “<spice”. This is why the portraits are grouped into three chapters. Each chapter features a pair of architects, which the two artists describe as "frenemies" in their celebrity magazine-style language, because they are linked by complex professional and personal relationships.
The first chapter features the architects Richard Neutra (1892-1970) and Rudolph M. Schindler (1887-1953). Both of Austrian origin, they emigrated to the United States, living together with their families, and collaborated professionally for a few years. Lake – Verea focus precisely on the period of cohabitation in "Kings Road House" (1921) in Los Angeles and then on their individual career paths.
The second chapter is linked to Walter Gropius (1883-1969), founding director of the Bauhaus, and Marcel Breuer (1902-1981), who also, after several joint projects, have taken distinct professional paths. Finally, the third chapter concerns the German architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (1886-1969) and the only American architect to feature in the exhibition, Philip Johnson (1906-2005). Linked by important common projects such as the "Seagram Building" in New York (1956), attention has been given to the relationship, which is still being studied, of the "Glass House" (1949) by Philip Johnson to the Farnsworth House project (1945 - 1951) by Mies van der Rohe.

(Agnese Bifulco)

Images courtesy of Vitra Design Museum: Paparazza Moderna Serie, 2011–2018 © Lake Verea

Title: Lake Verea: Paparazza Moderna
Curator: Viviane Stappmanns
Opening: 01 February 2019, 6 pm
Dates: 02 February to 07 July 2019
Opening Times: Daily from 10 am to 6 pm
Location: Vitra Design Museum Gallery, Charles-Eames-Strasse 2, 79576 Weil am Rhein - Germany
Social Media Hashtags: #LakeVerea #vitradesignmuseum #VDMGallery

www.design-museum.de


×
×

Stay in touch with the protagonists of architecture, Subscribe to the Floornature Newsletter