Since the beginning, Ángulo Cero has always developed collections alongside its artists and designers that tell stories in different ways. Works of art and design that always have something to say.  Comments on history, on techniques, on the use of materials and the way we do things or use things. The gallery likes to explore different ways of representations, to transform functional objects into contemplative objects. And this year is no exception.

For its fifth participation at Zona Maco, from February 6th to February 10th, Ángulo Cero is presenting a group exhibition that combines furniture, lighting, and tapestries by Ad Hoc, Luisa Restrepo,  Aitor Garrido, and Jose María Balmaceda.

Each piece tells a story about heritage, about personal transformation and high levels of craftsmanship while being also bold aesthetics statements. Fruitful collaborations between designers pushing boundaries and master artisans from Mexico and all the way to Nepal. Works that cross not only cultures but also borders between what is art and what is design.

These are all the beginnings of stories that will be developing throughout the year.

For centuries, Mesoamerican cultures developed a particular aesthetic through sacred objects with political nature that expressed their specific worldview and place in society. The clothing and accessories of the ancient warriors, for example, reflected their status, while imposing fear and respect. They used animal skins, breastplates, shields, shells and colorful feathers. In this way, aesthetics and warlike iconography functioned as a form of power and control. Through the look, a sense of authority and domination awakened.

After the Spanish conquest, there was a widespread discrediting of Mesoamerican cultures, assimilating them as barbaric and primitive. To vindicate this aesthetic and pre-Hispanic idiosyncrasy from a contemporary perspective, Mexican design studio Ad Hoc generates a new collection named ROOTS. Furniture pieces that emulate the warlike clothing of the Mesoamerican hegemonic communities through the use of endemic fibers from Mexico such as zacatón, lechugilla and ixtle.

The works by textile designer Jose María Balmaceda which are part of the gallery´s current exhibition, De Coquistas represent bits of the inner monsters people fight and conquer to achieve greatness and personal development. Tapestries and rugs that travel from the floor to the wall.

Circuits is a new collection by a unique collaboration between Colombian glass artist Luisa Restrepo and Mexican designer Aitor Garrido, looking to foster the development and permanence of an old metal craft. It makes connections between an early trade, a new context, a combination of materials and production techniques while playing with the formal concept of electrical circuits, connecting the designers, the craftsmen, and the different parts of the objects.