Set in the outstanding architecture of the Casa Naila in Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca, Marion Friedmann Gallery presented and exhibited some stellar pieces by representative contemporary mexican artists, thierry jeannot and julio martínez barnetche, during the second edition of the MDF Mexico Design Fair from May 20-22, 2022.

WEST 1 & WEST 2 armchairs by Julio Martínez Barnetche are masterpieces in handcrafting beautiful ashwood and black Obsidian. All parts are individually joined together with wood sticks and stainless steel joints, the latter being covered with carved black Obsidian, native to Mexico. ⁠

Other items by the mexican artist and sculptor also featured were the beautiful BELL jewellery sets, each consisting of matching silver necklaces and bracelets with sculpted details in Jade and Jasper.

The gallery presented the TEOTL table lamp, by Thierry Jeannot, meticulously crafted with recycled plastic bottle parts, metal, and perspex elements. This unique light object pays tribute to Teotl, the Nahuatl (Aztec) expression for god, or the divine.

THIERRY JEANNOT

A French-born designer living in Mexico for the last 30 years. Thierry has been working across product design, furniture and social design and his focus generates high added value to recycled materials through design. He is interested in traditional techniques and materials and has worked closely with crafts-people both in Paris (back in the 80s with fashion guru Thierry Mugler) and later with the workshops he discovered in Mexico City. 

He follows a design philosophy where design and the production process are never separated. In the 1980s he began working with a range of unconventional or ‘outlandish’ materials, like for example acrylics and plastics. For the last ten years he has been working mainly with the PET bottle as his raw-material. He explores various techniques of using the bottle and to transform its materiality and status to favourable acclaim both in Mexico and The United States. 

JULIO MARTÍNEZ BARNETCHE

Julio is a Mexican stone sculptor and artist working with precious and semiprecious stones. His oeuvre entails not only sculpture, but also furniture in special wood, stone and metal combinations, jewellery, as well as tableware and cooking devices in volcanic stone. Martínez Barnetche moves easily between pure sculpture, furniture and objects. He often takes his materials as he encounters them naturally. In some pieces handcrafted forgery is applied, this is where the artist explores the target, the piece's final destination.