The elemental companionship of light and air
The elemental companionship of light and air

On a dirt road west of the Mexican surfer town of Puerto Escondido on the South Pacific, you wouldn’t expect to find (and be able to visit) an artist’s private compound, studio and gallery designed by the famous Japanese architect, Tadao Ando.

Fundación Casa Wabi. Unusual name for a place in Mexico, isn’t it?

(Apparently, it also goes by the name Bosco Studio and House, after its founder, Mexican-born New-York-based artist, Bosco Sodi, although we only saw one reference to that.)

Bosco Sodi is a successful multimedia artist. His paintings and sculptures are in the Jumex Collection in Mexico City, the Contemporary Art Foundation in Japan, the Harvard Art Museum in Massachusetts and the Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C.—you get the picture.

in an interview in the Financial Times, Bosco explained how wabi sabi became a part of his art and life.

When I was very young, I read about wabi sabi philosophy…It talks about how the accident—the non-control, the passing of time—makes things irreplaceable and unique. I really love that concept, not just in my work, but across my own life…In 2004, I got a very important residency in Japan, and I fell in love with the country, the concept of aesthetics, everything. I have tried to implement a lot of that aesthetic into my works, which is this respect for nature, but also for accident. For causality. For uniqueness.

Bosco often begins his sculptures and paintings with raw earth. He makes his own clay, forms it into solid cubes and fires it in a handmade kiln built from brick and coconut husks. (His best-known public project. Muro, is a two-metre-high, nine-metre-long wall made from Mexican clay. Created in response to Trump’s “big, beautiful border wall,” it’s meant to be disassembled brick by brick by the public.  The man clearly has a sense of humour, too.)

His glazed rock sculptures are made from solidified magma that he collects from a Mexican volcano, the cracks and chasms, impairments and imperfections integral to the aesthetic.

Bosco opened Fundación Casa Wabi in 2014. A non-profit, its mission is to foster exchange between contemporary artists and local communities in Puerto Escondido, Mexico City and Tokyo. Casa Wabi offers five key programs: residencies, exhibitions, art classes with clay, cinema and a mobile library. “Social development through the arts.”

Artists in Residence

Casa Wabi is large—it covers 19 hectares and includes a multipurpose palapa, six small guesthouses, eight studios, an auditorium, a 450 m² exhibition gallery and various workspaces. The foundation is under the direction of Patricia Martin, curator of Latin America’s largest private art collection, Colección Jumex in Mexico City. It’s open to the public at scheduled times, by appointment, with a minimum donation of 600 Mexican pesos, about Cdn$42.

The four of us arrived for the first ninety-minute tour of the day on a Saturday morning in late January. Tadao Ando’s architectural signature greeted us—a long concrete wall. It splits the palapa’s interior into two halves: reception spaces on the north side, and to the south, Bosco’s family’s living area (screened behind more concrete walls and not part of our tour).

Facing the ocean, the palapa has a grand living and dining room, its floors a mix of granite and marble known as marmolina and a Mexican hardwood named parotta, its roof made from thatched palm leaves. There’s a terrace and two pools: a long narrow pool for swimming lengths, and a triangular padding pool for Bosco’s kids. Other buildings include six small palapas along the south side of the wall that function as guesthouses. There’s not a single pane of glass anywhere!

For us, Bosco’s outdoor art and Tadao’s “tube” were the real pleasures of visiting Casa Wabi.

Cast in Tadao’s signature silken concrete, the “tube” is ten metres high and ten metres across. “It leans at a 60-degree angle towards the sea; this bounces the sound of the waves, so it seems as if they are going to break over you from the mountain’s direction,” Bosco explained to an interviewer. “The effect is both humbling and confusing—in a good way.”

Touring the grounds, you can see the success of the concept—“beauty and harmony in the simple, the imperfect and the unconventional.”

The beauty of life’s imperfections…

Navigation

Casa Wabi website

Frearson, Amy. “Tadao Ando’s Casa Wabi is an artist’s retreat that stretches along the Mexican coast.” Dezeen: January 14, 2016.

Greco, Steven. “Quiet Connections.” Upstate Diary No. 15

Schneider Enriquez, Mary. “Monuments for Uncertainty: Bosco Sodi in Conversation with Mary Schneider Enriquez.” The Kasmin Review.  July 2023.

Spicer, Kate. Lost in Headspace: The Rise of the Home Temple.” Financial Times: July 16, 2021.

Jusco, Jessica. “Get Inside: The Feeling of An Endless Summer has Invaded Bosco Sodi’s Home in Mexico!” Delightfull. For a peek into Bosco’s private home at Casa Wabi, have a look at this story.

Tadao Ando.

6 Responses

  1. It’s uplifting to see your photos of these fascinating works & to read about the project. The light shines through. Thank you.

  2. Gloria , besides the fascinating material about Casa Wabi , I am always amazed by you and Magellan .What beautiful couple you are . This picture of you is about exactly that .

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE

Destinations
Spice

Round Harbour

Can you guess our favourite Canadian ad? Hint #1: Their ad agency needs more shelves to hold its awards. They’ve collected more than 400! Including

Read More »
Art & Architecture
Spice

The Mystery of Motya

On our last day in the Sicilian countryside before ending our trip in Palermo, Magellan suggested that instead of going to Marsala, we take a

Read More »
Patagonia Ancient Map
Destinations
Spice

Bell-bottoms, Books and Bruce

What draws us to travel somewhere? Family. Recommendations from friends. Childhood fantasies. The lure of adventure. Movies. The desire to escape. Where we travel and

Read More »
Art & Architecture
Spice

Chiiori: Lost Japan

When I read Alex Kerr’s book Lost Japan back in 1996, I fell in love with the idea of visiting Chiiori. Never, never ever in

Read More »
North America
Magellan

Let the Sunshine In

We take tremendous delight and satisfaction in sharing Denali with visitors. At the core of our enterprise, our mission includes providing learning experiences, fostering stewardship

Read More »