How Esther McCoy's writings connected Mexican and LA design in this Museo Jumex exhibition

2017-03-15T17:02:00-04:00

Esther McCoy is best known as the architecture writer who helped shape the story of Modernism in Los Angeles. Less known is the nearly year-long period she spent in Mexico in 1951. During this time, she wrote about key architectural developments in the country... “The [“Passersby 02: Esther McCoy” exhibition] presents [McCoy] as this kind of bridge,” says Esparza, “from L.A. to Mexico and from Mexico to L.A.”

Architecture historian and critic Esther McCoy is the spotlight of a micro-exhibition called “Passersby 02: Esther McCoy”, which closes this Sunday at Museo Jumex. The exhibition investigates how McCoy's writings on key architectural developments in Mexico during her extended stay in 1951 had an influence on the architectural styles that developed in Los Angeles. It explores the exchange of ideas and references between Mexico and Los Angeles, and how McCoy became an important connection between the two places.

A Mexican Showcase for Ambition

2014-03-10T14:58:00-04:00

Designed by the British architect David Chipperfield, the three-story building is a plain, compact block of light travertine, unornamented apart from a saw-tooth crest on top. It’s a no-nonsense, no-ego structure that seems to look inward rather than outward.

Holland Cotter reviews the new Museo Jumex, a contemporary art museum in Mexico City sponsored by the art patron Eugenio López Alonso. Built adjacent to the more formally -adventurous Museo Soumaya, she judges that the architectural design and inaugural exhibitions point to "a calculated effort by the museum to set itself apart, to baffle expectations".

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How Esther McCoy's writings connected Mexican and LA design in this Museo Jumex exhibition

A Mexican Showcase for Ambition