Bowers Museum presents
Dimensions of Form: Rufino Tamayo and Mixografia
September 21, 2019 – January 19, 2020
Press Preview: Thursday, September 19, 2019 at 11am
Member Opening: Friday, September 20 at 6-9pm
August 6, 2019 (Los Angeles, California) – The Bowers Museum (2002 N Main St, Santa Ana, CA 92706) will present Dimensions of Form: Tamayo and Mixografia opening September 21, 2019. Dimensions of Form: Tamayo and Mixografia features the artistic legacy of Mexican-born artist Rufino Tamayo. Fifty prints on loan from Mixografia in Los Angeles will showcase the enormous depth and range of this pivotal artist’s work, from silhouetted figures to celestial bodies and the feathered serpent-god Quetzalcoatl, this exhibition illustrates the “fourth great one’s” last artistic collaborative expedition to add form to a typically flat medium.
In 1973, the Remba Family invited Rufino Tamayo to create a series of prints at Taller de Gráfica Mexicana (TGM), which opened in Mexico City in 1969. This collaboration was what led to the invention of the Mixografia® printing technique. Tamayo was looking to change the look of his prints by incorporating aspects of texture and dimensionality into his artwork and agreed to collaborate with TGM under the condition that the studio develop a technique that would allow him to produce his prints in relief. Luis Remba rose to the challenge by inventing a process that not only allowed Tamayo to create prints in relief, but also registered the artwork’s texture and very fine surface detail. Unable to use commercial paper for this new kind of printing, Luis and Lea’s son Shaye Remba designed and built the papermaking machinery to use in the studio. The name of the print shop was changed to reflect the name of the medium for which it had become known: “Mixografia.”
Mixografia went on to publish over 80 editions with Tamayo, including the 1983 paper mural “Dos Personajes Atacados Por Perros,” which was printed using the largest conventional lithographic stone in the world, measuring 103 x 63 inches. This stone, on which the artist’s original drawing is still visible, is on permanent view in the Mixografia gallery in downtown Los Angeles. The Remba family has been involved in the printing business for three generations. Moving from Mexico City to Los Angeles, Mixografia’s three-dimensional printing technique has been improved and perfected over the course of over 40 years. Because of the medium’s versatility, Shaye and Luis Remba are always searching for new methods to expand the printmaking possibilities for the artists.
Mixografia is a studio and a medium whose perfect marriage of artistry and technology allowed Tamayo to transcend the confines of the second dimension. A lithographic stone, used for one of his largest printworks printworks, serves as a significant point of interest for the Bowers Museum exhibition. This exhibition reflects both the immense legacy left behind by Tamayo and how an aging visionary and a family of immensely talented mechanical engineers were able to combine their abilities to breathe true dimensionality into paper. Dimensions of Form: Tamayo and Mixografia is organized by the Bowers Museum in conjunction with Mixografia.
Upcoming Schedule of Events at the Bowers Museum
- Thursday, September 19 @ 11am – Press Preview
- Friday, September 20 @ 6 – 9pm – VIP Opening
- Saturday, September 21 @ 1:30pm – Presentation by Dr. Karen Dordero, Guest Curatorial Consultant for Dimensions of Form: Tamayo and Mixografia
- Sunday, September 22 @1:30pm – Presentation by Lea, Luis and Shaye Remba titled Tamayo and Mixografia in collaboration
- Saturday, October 5 – Walk through and tour of the exhibition in English at 1:30pm and Spanish at 2:30pm
- Sundays, October 6, 13, 20, 27 – Docent-led storytelling in the galleries of Dimensions of Form: Tamayo and Mixografia
- Saturday, October 19 – Loteria game night and exhibition viewing with live music performances by Along for the Ride
- Sunday, November 10 – Walk through and tour of the exhibition in English at 1:30pm and Spanish at 2:30pm
About Mixografia
Mixografia has produced over 600 unique editions by 89 artists and has exhibited pieces at institutions around the world including Staatliche Kunsthalle, Berlin; Instituto de Arte Contemporáneo, Lima; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles; Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid; Museo de Arte Moderno, Mexico City; Georgia Museum of Art, Athens; Museum of Modern Art, New York; Musée d’Art Moderne, Paris; National Museum of Contemporary Art, Seoul; National Museum of Art, Tokyo; Graphische Sammlung Albertina, Vienna; and, the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Mixografia is honored to join the Bowers Museum in this celebration of Rufino Tamayo’s lifetime of mastery and innovation, in anticipation of Mixografia’s anniversary commemorating fifty years of printmaking from Mexico City to Los Angeles.
About the Bowers Museum
The Bowers Museum has earned an international reputation through its world-class exhibitions, including Guo Pei: Couture Beyond; A Quest for Beauty: Van Cleef & Arpels; Warriors, Tombs and Temples: China’s Enduring Legacy; TerraCotta Warriors: Guardians of China’s First Emperor; and Mummies–Death and the Afterlife: Treasures from the British Museum, as well as its own extensive art collections from the Americas and the South Pacific. Enjoy a leisurely luncheon at our award-winning Patina restaurant, Tangata. Browse the rare and exotic at the Bowers Museum Gallery Store. It’s more than just a shopping trip—it’s a cultural experience. Visit bowers.org for information and tickets.