Meet the curator: PILAR OBESO, Mexico City

Shortly after receiving her BFA in Fashion and Textile Design at Mexico City’s CENTRO de Diseño Cine y Televisión in 2009, Pilar Obeso launched a successful design career. In 2012, she co-founded TALLER NU, a socially conscious studio that focuses on ethical production methods, quality materials, and fine craftsmanship. Now CEO of TALLER NU, Obeso’s work has been displayed outside of her studio practice in multiple exhibitions across Mexico, including Design and Identity at Museo Franz Mayer in 2016, Contemporary Design in 2014, and Hilos y Entramados from 2016-2017.

Obeso’s background in design gives her a unique curatorial perspective: “As a designer, I believe in the importance of context, process, functionality, prototyping, and aesthetics and how through exhibitions or platforms such as Adorno we can present all these ‘behind the scenes’ that build a final product.” She finds that design within Mexico City is primarily defined by collaborative practices, that “by studying and understanding our history we are honoring the past by redefining and reviving a vast variety of amazing craft techniques and beautiful materials.” It is with this type of work that Obeso fills her curated portfolio. “Learning, experimentation, eye on the details and collaboration are present in each one of the Mexican designers profiles in this first collection,” she says. “Their work reflects what Mexican contemporary design is all about.”

Tradition and craftsmanship inspire local designers. Textiles, ceramics, volcanic stones, wood, paper, and leather are just a few of many materials with which designers are experimenting. As a Mexico City native, Obeso explains, “We are very attached to our land and its sources.”

Gradient Blue Tablecloth, $109, Full dimensions (cm)
250 x 170, Material 90% cotton, 10% polyester

Huixcolotla Cabinet, $4,070, Full dimensions: 120 cm x 50 cm x 110 cm, Material: Walnut Wood, Iron, Leather, Production Year: 2016, Design Class: Small scale manufactured, Exclusivity: Only on Adorno, Weight: 28 kg

Conkal Bowl Large, $220, Full dimensions: 35 cm x 8 cm, Design Class: Small scale manufactured, Material: Lava Stone, Weight: 13 kg

“Silla ruiseñor de descanso”, $320, Color: Beige, Black, Mexican pink, Design Class: Small scale manufactured, Full dimensions (cm): 66 x 82 x 83, Material: tzalam, Wood, Production Year: 2004, Weight 7

Rituales Mx – “LUCIERNAGA” Ceiling lamp, Color: White and gold, Design Class: Small scale manufactured, Full dimensions: 32cm x 32cm x 23cm, Material: Tyvek, Gold leaf., Production Year: 2014, Weight: 1 kg

Our long history with textiles has taken its two-dimensional common shape into volumetric figures such as chairs, bags, and lamps, just to mention a few.

Designer: Perla Valtierra, Barro Zacatecas jarro, $27, Full dimensions (cm): 8x8x11, Weight (kg): 0.3, Material: Ceramics, Production Year: 2017

Obeso describes her curatorial work as “a never-stop-learning process full of curiosity.” She believes in promoting designers she truly admires and sharing their creative process with a large audience, motivated by an innate desire to both revisit the past and to predict future trends.

She believes ADORNO may play an essential role in “expanding Mexican design to new horizons and introducing it to a global market looking for one-of-a-kind pieces.”

Designer: Studio davidpompa, vitrif, $186, Full dimensions (cm): 9x9x20, Weight (kg): 0.5, Material: copper and barro negro, Production Year: 2017

Designer: AD HOC, Taburete Pirinola Small, $395, Design Class: Small scale manufactured, Full dimensions: 55 cm x 55 cm x 49 cm, Exclusivity: Only on Adorno, Material: palm / oak wood, Production Year: 2015, Weight: 17 kg

Designer: Perla Valtierra, Royal Quetzalcoatl, $850, SMALL SCALE MANUFACTURED, ONLY ON ADORNO, Weight (kg): 2, Material: Black Stoneware 1150ºC, Production Year: 2017