Beatriz Morales: Capisayo
September 29 – December 29, 2024
When looking at the international architectural landscape, one begins to notice how the historical landmarks become more silent witnesses of our past and simultaneously offer a glimpse to what the future might hold. Architectural movements and its prominent landmarks are impactful on our understanding of what architecture today can be seen as and why is it important in order to appreciate our build environment – from the Pre-Hispanic City of Teotihuacan built between the 1st and 7th centuries A.D., in Mexico all the way to the simple line of modern architecture movement in the early 20th century. In recent years, looking at historical landmarks in contemporary context became a field worthy of exploration: To transform the building while telling a story without losing its identity was the catalyst for the exhibition Capisayo by the Mexican artist Beatriz Morales – a site-specific installation on view from September 28th until the 29th of December 2024 at the historical Edith Farnsworth House.
Located in Plano, Illinois, the Edith Farnsworth House, designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe for Dr. Edith Farnsworth, was completed in 1951 and is one of the most iconic examples of modern architecture. With its simple and clean lines, flat, horizontal footprint, white-painted steel beams, walls of glass and natural light, the single-story house is in complete harmony with nature. Surrounded by woods and near the Fox River, the Edith Farnsworth House has been flooded by the local river numerous times, resulting in considerable damages to the house. Reacting to the space and its history, Beatriz Morales created the fiber art piece Capisayo as a sign of protection, accompanied by works merging painting with embroidery, as well as a number of abstract portrait paintings. The exhibition expands onto the premises of the historic site including the gallery where a large agave fiber installation piece dyed with natural ink titled Quimera envelops the round shape of the gallery space.
A Capisayo is a Mexican rain cape woven from palm leaves which, apart from its protective qualities, is also an aesthetically striking, even somewhat mysterious garment. Woven of an abundant natural resource – palm leaves – it is highly functional, offering substantial protection in times of torrential rain. In all of Mexico, there are only a tiny handful of artisans left who still produce these Capisayos. Morales transports the intricate weaving and knotting techniques of these Capisayos into a textile installation made of agave fiber, a medium which over the last decade has become central to the artist’s practice and expression of heritage.
Beatriz Morales’ work ties together the notions of traditional craft, adventurous aesthetics, non-invasive soft art, the recycling of natural resources and especially the aspect of human design in harmony with nature. Crucially, it also showcases an ancient technique of protection against water, adapted and abstracted for its current context. As such, this artwork relates strongly to several key aspects of the core concept of Edith Farnsworth House, as well as its subsequent history. Hung inside the house, it offers a number of talking points to visitors that are directly relevant to the building. It also expresses the wish of protection of this architectural landmark, and the manifold ideas that have been proposed over the decades to preserve the house. The work may be read as an expression of good will, a celebration of human ingenuity in processing simple materials to great effect, a discussion of design at the very intersection of functionality and highly individual design. The piece has two complementary sides, revealing two distinct faces when seen from outside and inside of the building. The front, seen from the outside, is a flowing cascade of agave fibre, like a giant, textured three-dimensional brush stroke of soft material. The reverse side of the work, viewed from the inside of the house, reveals an intricate, symmetrical pattern of knots in the style of a pre-Hispanic Mexican Capisayo.
This contemporary intervention highlights the essence of this historical landmark, and simultaneously ties together the aspects of sustainability and historical construction of fiber that mean to protect and to celebrate.
Curator: Esenija Bannan
Project Management: Zombori Art Media