The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) is currently hosting “Found in Translation: Design in California and Mexico, 1915-1985,” an exhibition that explores the architecture and design dialogues between Mexico and California. The show presents furniture, ceramics, metalwork, sculptures, architectural drawings and photographs, costumes, textiles, posters, and films by more than 200 designers, architects, craftsmen, and artists spanning a period of seven decades from 1915 to 1985.California and Mexico share close ties due to their geographic proximity, which has led to cross-cultural exchange for centuries. California has been fascinated with pre-Hispanic and Spanish Colonial styles of Mexico. The latter has admired California as an epitome of the “American way of life.”The exhibition studies the relationship between the two states through four different themes: Spanish Colonial Inspiration, Folk Art and Craft Traditions, Pre-Hispanic Revivals, and Modernism. The Spanish Colonial was the dominant visual vocabulary, especially in architecture, during the 1920s and 1930s. Architects in California incorporated elements of Spanish baroque, while Mexico combined Spanish and indigenous traditions to rebuild its national identity after the Mexican Revolution. Pre-Hispanic Revivals looks at the use of imagery from the Maya, Mixtec, Zapotec, and Aztec civilizations, emphasizing the unique heritage of Mexico, which also got transferred to California. Folk Art and Craft Traditions focuses on the efforts of Mexico and California to revive their indigenous arts, with artists and designers rooting their works in vernacular forms and materials in the face of industrialization. Modernism traces the profound influence of California architects on their Mexican counterparts. While architects such as John Lautner took California modernism to Mexico, Mexican architect Ricardo Legorreta brought Chicano muralism to San Diego and Los Angeles.The exhibition will be on view through April 1, 2018, at LACMA, 5905 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, California, 90036.For more details, visit: http://www.blouinartinfo.com/galleryguide-venues/285451/museum-overviewClick on the slideshow for a sneak peek at the exhibition. Read more