Gaïa Matisse presents Ugo Schildge, Sten Studio, and Studio Lares
Art Week Mexico 2026
Mexico City
For Art Week Mexico 2026, Gaïa Matisse presents a curated dialogue between contemporary art and design, bringing together the sculptural paintings of French artist Ugo Schildge with the marble totem works of Sten Studio and the inaugural design collection by Studio Lares.
The presentation explores materiality, verticality, and the space between form and function, where objects operate simultaneously as artworks, symbols, and lived presences. Moving fluidly between abstraction and structure, the exhibition foregrounds practices that resist fixed categorization, instead embracing ambiguity, intuition, and tactile experience.
Ugo Schildge’s work questions the traditional boundaries of painting through a hybrid approach to wood panels incorporating wood strips, natural pigments, and plaster. His compositions blur distinctions between painting and sculpture, control and freedom, technique and illusion. Oscillating between the figurative and the abstract, the conscious and the unconscious, Schildge’s works exist in a state of continual transition, inviting prolonged contemplation rather than immediate interpretation.
Sten Studio presents selections from its Cosmic Relics totem series, monumental sculptural forms inspired by cosmic phenomena and ancestral symbolism. Drawing on diverse stones such as onyx, marble, lava stone, and calcite, each totem reflects both the vast mineral diversity of the universe and the plurality of human societies. Rooted in the concept of totemism as a link between the earthly and the spiritual, the works function as contemporary guardians, emphasizing collective identity, balance, and shared energy.
Completing the presentation, Studio Lares introduces its first collection of design objects, including furniture and lighting pieces crafted with an emphasis on material integrity, craftsmanship, and timeless form. Founded by Mexican designer Natalia Laresgoiti, the studio’s work balances functionality with sculptural presence, offering objects that quietly anchor space while remaining attentive to detail, proportion, and texture.
Together, the three practices form a cohesive yet nuanced conversation around form, material, and meaning. Positioned at the intersection of art and design, the presentation invites viewers to slow down, engage physically and intuitively with the works, and consider how objects can hold memory, symbolism, and presence beyond their immediate use.
