Brian Thoreen, a California-born artist and designer, was at a crossroads five years ago, dividing his time between Los Angeles and New York, not wanting to be in either city. He fell in love with Mexico City when his Yucatan holiday was rerouted due to a hurricane. On his second trip, he met Héctor Esrawe, a multidisciplinary designer from the area, and he discovered his artistic match and made it his adoptive home.
Since the meeting, Esrawe and Thoreen have co-founded two businesses in Mexico City: Vissio, an experimental glassmaking platform, and Masa, an itinerant gallery specializing in contemporary Mexican art and design.
In the meantime, Esrawe’s architectural and interiors studio recently collaborated with Superflex to design a colorful showroom in Miami for Arca, a Mexican stone business, while Thoreen has been making useful and nonfunctional furnishings and artworks out of metal and stone. They’ve also managed to keep their friendship intact; in fact, they’re currently constructing a weekend house in Ocotitlán to share.
While the concept of creative cooperation has recently become extremely popular, Esrawe and Thoreen continue to be a model of artistic collaboration and interchange that may support both individual and cultural progress. During their recent interview with Artnet News, they addressed their life-changing friendship, shared work endeavors, and Mexico’s collaborative culture, and there was a distinct sense of camaraderie and mutual respect.