Anni y Josef Albers. Latin American Journeys

Among Anni Albers’ works are included preparatory studies and tapestries produced during the middle years of her career, which show a textile influence from pre-Hispanic Peru and Mexico. In Peru, the artist finds one of the highest known textile cultures, where threads are among the first transmitters of meaning. After a life of designing fabrics and weaving by hand, Anni Albers begins experimenting with engraving in the Sixties as well as creating jewellery inspired by the treasure of Monte Albán (Oaxaca). In this exhibition some watercolours and gouaches, heavily influenced by her teacher Klee, are also present.

Between 1936 and 1946 Josef Albers’ paintings undergo a series of transformations. Breakups and changes of direction coincide with extended stays in Mexico. The influence of Mexican architecture can be seen in numerous drawings and paintings made in the late forties and early fifties, while he continues investigating colour. Josef Albers makes thousands of photographs in pre-Hispanic sites in Mexico and Peru with his 35mm camera, later producing photographic montages with them. These collages will serve as notebooks and three-dimensional structure models, volumes and schemes and represent a crucial step in the process of purification of Mexican architectural forms in succinct geometric motifs.