Octogenarian sisters debut their fantastical beasts at Mexico City Art Week

Proving that it’s never too late to realise your dreams, sisters Laura Enriquez Chávez and Asunción Enriquez Chávez – both over 80 years old – are making their artistic debut during this week’s Zona Maco, the annual international fair held during Art Week in Mexico City.

Although this is the first time this particular body of work will be on view to an international audience, the Enriquez Chávez sisters – who operate under the studio name 'Taller Los Tepalcates' – are by no means new to their craft. They have been creating their distinctive ceramic pieces for decades in their hometown of Santa María Atzompa, Oaxaca, where the tradition of ceramics dates back to the pre-Columbian era of Monte Albán.

In the adobe kiln of their community workshop, the sisters bring to life surreal, fantastical creatures – inspired by the vibrant local fauna – including crocodiles, roosters, dolphins and coyotes. The open-mouthed creatures reach skywards, as if emerging from another realm.

Their studio name, 'Taller Los Tepalcates', nods to their unusual production technique in which, before and during the firing process, they cover their creations with tepalcates – the broken fragments of clay that chip off larger pots during firing. This technique, combined with their imaginative visual language and the use of simple kitchen tools to coax the creatures into shape, elevates the traditional vernacular of Atzompa pottery into a unique artistic expression.

During this week’s Zona Maco, their work is being showcased by New York and Mexico City-based gallery AGO Projects in a show called 'Earthling; Life through Earth', curated by Elise Durbecq, a Mexico-based designer with over 15 years’ experience championing artisan collaborations.

'We had seen an exhibition of work from 'Taller Los Tepalcates' in Oaxaca that Elise curated a couple of years ago and were immediately smitten,' recalls designer Rodman Primack, who co-founded AGO Projects in 2019 alongside his partner, the designer Rudy F. Weissenberg. 'Most of the work in that show was smaller in scale, but extremely engaging. We love their use of traditional techniques to create vessels that seem to come from another world, possessing a language all their own.'

So enamoured were Primack and Weissenberg that they immediately invited Durbecq and 'Taller Los Tepalcates' to collaborate. For AGO Projects, the sisters worked in collaboration with Durbecq to develop a series of exuberantly expressive and exquisitely detailed works – including lamps, tables, large vessels and tableware – that exhibit a sense of lightness and playful humour.

'Elise worked with the Enriquez Chávez sisters on the overall concept and pushed their practice to grow in scale and exuberance, but the sisters do all the hand building, firing and glazing. They are simply amazing,' Weissenberg tells Wallpaper*. 'Collaboration is one of the pillars of our gallery, and we are constantly looking for ways to collaborate with people we admire. Both Elise and the Enriquez Chávez sisters, along with 'Taller Los Tepalcates', fall into that category.'

Inside the gallery, the works are arranged by families and typologies on a series of blue, stepped plinths that form a quadrant in the space – a layout that Primack and Weissenberg say will ensure visitors can interact with and view the pieces both individually and as a group. To complement the ceramics, AGO Projects and Durbecq have selected a series of paintings by Oaxaca-based artist Nanashy Mauro, whose work explores the absurdity of modern habitats. Like 'Taller Los Tepalcates', this marks Mauro’s first foray into the gallery context. 'We love the quality of the paintings and their embedded sense of humour,' says Primack. 'We feel the paintings speak to the ceramic works, enabling another form of dialogue with them and creating a universe of animated sculptures.'

Opening to the public on 5 February, Zona Maco is Latin America’s largest art fair. Now in its 21st year and taking place at the city's Centro Citibanamex, it will feature 200 galleries from 29 countries across four continents.

'Earthling; Life through Earth', opens on 3 February, 2025, at AGO Projects, Paseo de la Reforma 382, Interior 501–entrada por Calle Oxford Colonia Juárez, Ciudad de México, 06600.

Zona Maco runs from 5 – 9 February 2025.

ago-projects.com
zsonamaco.com

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