Aldo Álvarez Tostado. Photo: Beto Pinto Mora
Aldo Álvarez Tostado
PROJECT
Mexican architect Aldo Álvarez Tostado challenges the mythic vaqueros or cowboy archetype of masculinity through this lounge table. The steel tabletop is shaped to represent a parcel of land that forms an ejido, an agricultural commons retained by the Mexican state for the use of Indigenous and working-class communities, particularly men. Horsehair, associated with the overtly masculine status symbol of the horse, appears to support the steel surface. This juxtaposition of rigid, industrial steel with sensuous horsehair symbolises the enduring yet fragile patriarchal narratives in Mexican culture.
The acquisition of this artist’s work is supported by Thomas Bridge & Jake Monaghan
ABOUT
Aldo Álvarez Tostado is an architect whose practice spans design, art and architecture. Since graduating from ITESO Architecture School in Guadalajara, he has established a number of ventures, including the design company piedrafuego in 2013 and the art space todomundo in 2021, as well as a solo practice through which he has exhibited at major museums and galleries across North America. These include Museo Tamayo, Mexico City (Mexico); Museo de Bellas Artes, Mexico City (Mexico); Friedman Benda, New York (US); and Denver Art Museum (US). His work is held in the collections of the Denver Art Museum and the Museo Universitario de Arte Contemporáneo, Mexico City, as well as in private collections in Mexico, the United States and Europe.