Mousse Magazine // Yto Barrada at Casa Estudio Barragán
The Postnational Artistic Imaginaries at Work in Yto Barrada’s Double Skin at Casa Estudio Luis Barragán, Mexico City
No. 12 Gral. Francisco Ramírez is a pine door set in a ruthlessly plain cement wall on a pinched cul-de-sac in Mexico City, teetering on the edge of a freeway. The dark, narrow hallway leads visitors to a set of volcanic stone steps atop which another door, kept fastidiously shut, opens to a high-ceilinged entry flooded with soaring natural light. This commanding effect caused by the blink-inducing forced contrast of light and space is a signature flourish of the home’s visionary and former occupant, Pritzker prize–winning Mexican architect Luis Barragán.
Image credit: Yto Barrada, Practice Pieces (Color Charts), 2019, Double Skin installation view at Casa Luis Barragán, Mexico City, 2019.
Courtesy: the artist; PACE; Steir-Semler Gallery; Galerie Polaris; Estancia FEMSA - Casa Luis Barragán. Photo: Ramiro Chaves
