Exhibition explores the artistry of two brothers who created one of Mexico’s most famous landmarks

Thursday, August 24, 2017
Rancho Mirage, California

Sunnylands Center & Gardens reopens for a seventh season on Sept. 14 with a new exhibition featuring the artwork of the two brothers who jointly created one of the most famous landmarks in Mexico.

José and Tomás Chávez Morado

José and Tomás Chávez Morado, at left, working alongside the modernist architects who reshaped Mexico City prior to the 1968 Olympics, fashioned the 40-foot-tall El Paraguas fountain for the courtyard of the city’s National Museum of Anthropology. The brothers from Guanajuato also created a half-scale version for the entry court of Sunnylands, Walter and Leonore Annenberg’s winter estate in Rancho Mirage.

While the brothers’ work is well-known in Mexico, the exhibition, Carved Narrative: Los Hermanos Chávez Morado, is the first to display paintings by José and sculpture by Tomás together outside their homeland.  The 37 pieces are on loan from Tomás’ daughter, Adriana Marcela Chávez Anguiano, and the Instituto Estatal de la Cultura de Guanajuato.

“Distinguished by new scholarship and extraordinary artwork, this exhibition is the first outside Mexico to showcase the contributions of the Chávez Morado brothers,” said Wendy Kaplan, Department Head and Curator, Decorative Arts and Design, at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. “Their column at Sunnylands highlights the Annenbergs’ profound commitment to cross-border understanding, and Carved Narrative illuminates this seminal work in the context of these important artists’ careers in Mexico.”

Carved Narrative is part of Pacific Standard Time: LA/LA, a far-reaching and ambitious exploration of Latin American and Latino art in dialogue with Los Angeles taking place from September 2017 through January 2018 at more than 70 cultural institutions in Southern California. Pacific Standard Time is an initiative of the Getty. The presenting sponsor is Bank of America. Sunnylands’ Carved Narrative exhibition will remain on display until June 3, 2018. A catalog of the exhibition is available in the Sunnylands Gift Shop. See a full press kit here. Comunicado de prensa aqui.

Films on the Great Lawn  also return opening weekend. The free, outdoor movie series connects to the Pacific Standard Time: LA/LA initiative with films celebrating Mexican heritage and the pursuit of the American dream.

My Family, the multi-generational, 1995 film starring Edward James Olmos, Jennifer Lopez, and Esai Morales, kicks off the series Friday, Sept 15.  The two other films are A Better Life on Sept. 22 and The Perfect Game on Sept. 29. Films start at 7:30 pm, with gates opening at 7 pm.