MEXICO CITY.- Marking its fifth anniversary, MASA gallery opened two inaugural solo exhibitions at their first permanent space in the heart of Mexico City, on view from February 8 - April 8, 2023. The gallery’s expansion strengthens its ongoing commitment to present innovative positions of the local contemporary creative community through group and solo exhibitions focusing on collectible art and design. In ‘Non-Zero-Sum,’ artist and designer Brian Thoreen explores unconventional ways of fabrication and corporeality, expanding on traditional concepts and pushing the boundaries of materiality. Multidisciplinary conceptual artist Mario García Torres presents ‘The Space Under My Chair & The Music I Was Listening To’. As a homage to Bruce Nauman’s iconic sculpture and inspired by musical equipment design, García Torres explores a dialog between two series of works that shine a light on the limitless possibilities of fusing conceptuality and function.

The 600 m2 colonial house known for some of the most extravagant parties of the 1960s and 1970s in Mexico City, becomes MASA’s new home. Previously owned by great art visionary, writer, and patron Federico Sánchez Fogarty (1901 - 1976), the 18th century building was the historic location of over 300 of Fogarty’s ‘Fiestas del Tercer Imperio’ (Parties of the Third Empire). Orchestrated with the very own brush of famous muralist José Clemente Orozco (1883 – 1949), the evenings were attended by artists, writers, and critics – all of whom contributed to the construction and aesthetics of modern Mexico. Defined by its stretched corridors, expansive space, and five-meter-high ceilings, MASA revives this iconic space.

Known for challenging conventional concepts and pushing the boundaries of art and design, Thoreen’s 'Non-Zero-Sum' presents over ten functional and six non-functional works, unveiling his mastery in finding progressive ways to manipulate materials beyond the conventional. The pieces on view showcase a bold exploration of shape, form, and utility, resulting in a diverse presentation of functionality and material in each piece.

The breath of Thoreen’s current studio practice offers a continuation and expansion of his longstanding interest in making the static and kinetic laws of the universe visible, and the collision of a physical material with personal experimentation wrestling with the forces of gravity, displacement, velocity, mass, and scale.

In 'The Space Under My Chair & The Music I Was Listening To' Mario García Torres unveils two series featuring design and artworks that explore conceptuality and function. 'A Cast of the Space Under My Chair' is an aluminum stool inspired by Bruce Nauman’s iconic concrete bearing the same name. Created in Nauman’s early career, the sculpture was crafted to consider the body’s relationship with the surrounding negative spaces. In the coated aluminum version, García Torres casts his desk chair, symbolically overturning the sculpture’s purpose by turning it into a functional object. For Nauman, casting the space below his seating was a way to reveal overlooked spaces; fifty years later, García Torres shines a light into a centuries-old tradition.