Luis Barragán’s Mexico City home sets the scene for an intimate art exhibition
Curator Elena Filipovic has temporarily replaced the revered architect’s personal art collection with contemporary proxies that allude to the originals
- (opens in new tab)
- (opens in new tab)
- (opens in new tab)
- Sign up to our newsletter Newsletter

Located surreptitiously near the end of a narrow street in Mexico City’s Miguel Hidalgo district, Casa Luis Barragán is the private residence and studio built by the famed Mexican architect in 1948 and inhabited until his death, 40 years later.
Now considered a modern masterpiece, the building had remained largely intact, harbouring Barragán’s vast collection of books, art, and curios. More recently, an exhibition curated by Elena Filipovic proposed a slight, nearly imperceptible shift in the residence’s contents, asking: What might the interior of Barragán’s home look like if he had lived on and entirely rehung it with art of the present?
Ether en Flocons, 2018, by Roberto Cuoghi; and Pony Tails, 2013, by Lutz Bacher. Courtesy of Estancia FEMSA – Casa Luis Barragán
‘Emissaries for Things Abandoned by Gods’ is an exercise in bridging the past and the modern, seeking to establish a dialogue not only with the building itself, but with the paradoxical, often mythologised personality of its author. Describing the home as ‘a place where monkish asceticism meets a dandy’s capriciousness and where strict Catholicism meets material-sensual abandon’, Filipovic replaced more than 50 artworks with contemporary proxies, selected for their formal or conceptual correspondence to the originals.
Pieces by a group of 16 international artists, including Deana Lawson, Heinz Peter Knes, Gabriel Kuri and Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, now stand in place of Barragán’s carefully selected collection, often referencing the timeless themes he showed an interest in — mortality, spirituality, intimacy — and other times proposing new ones that speak to a collective existence, such as the refugee crisis and the lives of diasporic communities.
It is a peculiar experience, to encounter artworks usually exhibited within a sterile gallery setting, surrounded instead by the textures, colors, and quotidian objects of a private home. Too often within the spheres of art and architecture, archival work is paralysed and encapsulated within the framework of history. Spaces such as Casa Luis Barragán, however, offer myriad possibilities for exploring and understanding our present.
Preserving them as they once were is a commendable effort, but keeping them perpetually immutable, while relegating contemporary work to contemporary spaces, would rob us of the opportunity to create and present new narratives. This exhibition is only one example of the ways in which art can function as a tool for traversing time.
Purists needn’t worry, though. ‘Emissaries for Things Abandoned by Gods’ runs until 15 December, after which all of Barragán’s prized possessions — currently on view in the studio portion of the home — will be returned to their rightful places.
Express Nothing (Wood Molten), 2018, by Pamela Rosenkranz. Courtesy of Estancia FEMSA – Casa Luis Barragán
Adorah, 2018, by Deana Lawson; Dark Silhouette: Male Figure in Unison, 2019, by Matthew Angelo Harrison; and Ejercicio 2005 – 2006, 2006, by Gabriel Kuri. Courtesy of Estancia FEMSA – Casa Luis Barragán
Untitled, 2004, by Seth Price; If Something Detrimental Enters my Vehicle, 2019, by Danai Anesiadou; and Untitled, 2019, by Michael E Smith. Courtesy of Estancia FEMSA – Casa Luis Barragán
Sons of Cush, 2017, by Deana Lawson; and Oh man! Because I do Not Allow it, 2019, by Danai Anesiadou. .Courtesy of Estancia FEMSA – Casa Luis Barragán
Conversion Table, 2016, by Andra Ursuța. Courtesy of Estancia FEMSA – Casa Luis Barragán
Pony Tails, 2013, by Lutz Bacher. Courtesy of Estancia FEMSA – Casa Luis Barragán
Untitled (Gustav), 2019, by Heinz Peter Knes; and Untitled, 2019, by Michael E Smith. Courtesy of Estancia FEMSA – Casa Luis Barragán
Institución de crédito, 2017, by Gabriel Kuri; and Imitatio Christi, 2017-2019, by Roberto Cuoghi. Courtesy of Estancia FEMSA – Casa Luis Barragán
INFORMATION
‘Emissaries for Things Abandoned by Gods’, until 15 December, Casa Luis Barragán. estanciafemsa.mx (opens in new tab); casaluisbarragan.org (opens in new tab)
ADDRESS
Casa Luis Barragán
Gral Francisco Ramírez 12-14
Ampliación Daniel Garza
Miguel Hidalgo
11840 Mexico City
VIEW GOOGLE MAPS (opens in new tab)
-
Hermès perfume Un Jardin à Cythère is a cinematic exploration of a Greek garden
With Un Jardin à Cythère, Hermès perfumer Christine Nagel recreates the sensations of crunchy grass, watery pistachios, and windswept olive trees
By Mary Cleary • Published
-
Exploration, travel, adventure: the lowdown on Herno’s S/S 2023 collection
A closer look at Herno’s latest collection, which riffs on the brand’s heritage with a new fashion-focused lens
By Jack Moss • Published
-
Constance Guisset makes her Fuorisalone debut with a scenographic design party
Salone del Mobile 2023: ‘Surprise Party! Carte Blanche à Constance Guisset Studio’ (17 April – 13May 2023) is the first Milanese solo show of the French designer
By Maria Cristina Didero • Published
-
Artist’s Palate: Jose Dávila’s chocolate fudge with pecans
Try Jose Dávila’s indulgent recipe for chocolate fudge with pecans, from our December 2022 issue’s Artist’s Palate feature, a Wallpaper* homage to our favourite contemporary art
By TF Chan • Published
-
Mexico City art hub JO-HS opens inside a modernist icon
New exhibition space and creative hub JO-HS opens inside a striking example of modernist Mexico City architecture by Carlos Herrera
By Harriet Lloyd-Smith • Last updated
-
Bosco Sodi’s message of post-pandemic hope in New York City
The Mexican artist takes over Manhattan's Washington Square Park on Sunday 23 May, giving away 439 small clay spheres embedded with seeds to spread a message of hope
By TF Chan • Last updated
-
Unno gallery shines a spotlight on Latin American design talent
Offering a new point of view on the region's talent, Milan-based digital gallery Unno makes its debut with a series of collectible design objects that reference ancient aesthetics with a contemporary spin
By Rosa Bertoli • Last updated
-
Artist Stefan Brüggemann lights up the truth in Tijuana
Mexican artist Stefan Brüggemann meditates on the state of misinformation with a double-sided neon installation on the US/Mexico border
By TF Chan • Last updated
-
Bosco Sodi creates limited-edition cover for Wallpaper’s December 2020 issue
For our December 2020 issue, artist Bosco Sodi explored notions of perfection by contrasting his clay sculptures with the concrete forms of his Casa Wabi art foundation
By TF Chan • Last updated
-
Artist Bosco Sodi on his inclusive vision for Mexico’s Casa Wabi
Casa Wabi, on the Oaxacan coast of Mexico, combines world-class architecture by Tadao Ando with a mission to promote social commitment through art.
By TF Chan • Last updated
-
At home with artist Gabriel Rico
Even in a period of social distancing, the art world continues to turn. In our ongoing series, we go home, from home, with artists finding inspiration in isolation. Reached during his temporary seclusion among the Mexican mountains, Gabriel Rico reveals how his poetic assemblages of found objects draw on culture, philosophy and the natural order of things
By TF Chan • Last updated