ABC (Always Be Copying): Reproductive Power from Mexico
Introducing Mexico's Reproduction and Distribution Network, and their Lettering Workshop.
Eso es la Vida/This is Life was a 2023 exhibition in Palm Springs, California. Its focus was graphic design from Mexico, including some exploration of the role and influence of sign painting within this.
In this piece for BLAG, the show's curator, Robert J. Kett, shares the work and influence of one art and design collective, and their initiatives that straddle sign painting, lettering, and print.
ABC (Always Be Copying): Reproductive Power from Mexico
By Robert J. Kett
There’s a side walk kiosk in the neighbourhood of San Miguel Chapultepec in Mexico City that at first resembles any of the thousands of street stalls where the city’s residents find a meal or quickly buy a magazine, cigarette, or snack. In fact, it is the public headquarters of RRD (Red de Reproducción y Distribución / Reproduction and Distribution Network, @erreerrede), an art and design collective through which Anuar Portugal, Joel Castro, Sergio Torres, María José Cruz and Bruno Ruiz celebrate and sustain 'informal' methods of generating, reproducing, and sharing ideas.
The kiosk melds the functions of the street stall, art gallery, and book shop, offering a critical reflection on Mexico’s public culture and graphic arts that still sits firmly within the rhythms of the everyday city.
