CULTURE
Gloria Cortina creates spaces and pieces that are conceived and composed as art in three dimensions. They express ideas and emotions prompted by modernity and myth – ‘a search for the harmony and beauty that can be found in conscious and unconscious imaginings.’
Working from her bases in New York and Mexico City her designs, curations and artistic collaborations overlap dynamically. ‘It’s like a dance, a series of movements’ she explains, ‘the weaving together of a complete three-dimensional living experience by giving and receiving ideas.’
Gloria describes a key part of her approach as being ‘almost like sculpting space and light’. She creates compositions that bring together art, architectural form, and culture to create extremely place-sensitive atmospheres and aesthetics.
Her designs, for clients who have included leaders in the tech and communication sectors and art world figures, flow from her intense interest in the physical, emotional, and creative qualities of spaces, materials, and objects.
Gloria’s inspirations range from Mayan artefacts to Cubism, 20th century Modernist art and architecture, México’s unique Arts and Crafts heritage, and natural and archaeological environments. These, and other sources, give her spatial compositions the character of three-dimensional art.
They often include pieces from her own Collectible Design series and are characterised by the use of beautiful and unusual materials, crafted with exceptional attention to detail by her own team of highly-skilled makers.
Her furniture has been acquired by major cultural institutions such as the Cooper Hewitt and Smithsonian in New York, and the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, and it has been featured in publications including Vogue, Architectural Digest, Elle Decoration, Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times.
Gloria’s ability to transcend familiar forms of spatial design reflects her own personal journey. After training at one of the world’s elite creative powerhouses, the Parsons School of Design in New York, she collaborated with outstanding architects who included the Praemium Imperiale-winning Ricardo Legoretta, and she then established her own design studio in 2009. And this journey has come full circle: having begun her design Odyssey at Parsons, she now lectures there.
MYTH & MODERNITY
Gloria‘s design inspirations range from Mayan artefacts to Cubism, 20th century Modernist art and architecture, México’s unique Arts and Crafts heritage, and natural and archaeological environments. These, and other sources, give her architectural spaces a uniquely individual character. They feature pieces from her own Collectible Design series of objects, furniture and fabrics, which are characterised by the use of beautiful and unusual materials, crafted with exceptional attention to detail.
These pieces are hand-made by her own team of craftspeople. Their understanding of materials is part of a centuries-old lineage of craft skills, and some of these makers are in the second or third generation of their families’ involvement with Gloria’s creations.
‘I greatly value the individuality of their work,’ she says, ‘because they give my designs a very particular, culturally grounded aura.’
BIBLIOGRAPHY
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Rizzoli, 2022 -
Editorial RM, 2016 -
2022 -
2014
2023-24 | ||
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Robb Report | The Best in Design | USA |
Luxe | 4 Standout Contemporary Female Artists From TEFAF 2024 | USA |
Artnews | TEFAF Maastricht’s Unique Blend of Art History, Contemporary Art, and Design Is Its Great Differentiator | USA |
FT | The line of beauty connecting ancient Greek vases and modern abstract paintings | UK |
A! Diseño | Gloria Cortina: Interiors, Modernity & Myth | Mexico |
2021-22 | ||
Architectural Digest | Vivir en la Gloria | Mexico |
Patron Magazine | Ahead of Design | USA |
Cultured Magazine | Cultured and Indagare Pack Their Bags and Head to Mexico City | USA |
Cultured Magazine | In Mexico City, Contemporary Design Takes Cues From History | USA |
The Spaces | Latin American and European Designs Share The Spotlight in Mexico City | London |
Galerie Magazine | Tour Gallerist Sean Kelly’s Hudson Yards Apartment | New York |
The Design Edit | Luxes | London |
Forbes | Stay In Vail’s Most Exclusive New Penthouse Residence | New York |
Forbes | Inside Casa Dragones’ Well-Designed Tasting Room | New York |
Architectural Digest | Jeremiah Brent Brings Worldly Flair to This Manhattan Apartment | New York |
2018-20 | ||
The Design Edit | Collectible Design and the Circular Economy | London |
The New York Times | The Meaning of Luxury | New York |
Architectural Digest | 8 Salon Art + Design Standouts | New York |
A Shaded View On Fashion | Cristina Grajales Gallery Announces: Gloria Cortina’s Synergy Bench | Paris |
Architectural Digest | Casa Romano, un Proyecto Que Fusiona Arte y Estilo | Mexico |
Dezeen | Mexican House In Cabo Designed With "Almost Sculptural Quality" | London |
Robb Report | How Mexico’s New Wave of Designers Is Changing the Way We Dress, Live and Travel | USA |
The Design Edit | Hand In Hand | London |
Architectural Digest | Un Hogar Contemporáneo En Las Lomas | Mexico |
1st Dibs | Gloria Cortina Takes Us Shopping In Mexico City | USA |
2013-17 | ||
Architectural Digest | Reinterpretación Creativa Con Causa | Mexico |
Architectural Digest | Maestría Artesanal | Mexico |
Economic Journal | Gloria Cortinas Synergy Bench | Hong Kong |
FT, How to Spend It | Jewel-Like Furnishings That Light Up The Room | UK |
Architectural Digest | Los 100 Talentos LATINOS | Mexico |
Vogue | Design Miami Influencers | USA |
Vogue | Gloria Cortina: Valor de Nación Concretizado | L. America |
Sotheby's Magazine | Gloria Cortina's New Expression of Mexican Design | USA |
Architectural Digest | Talento Femenino | Mexico |
Cultured Magazine | More Than a Moment | USA |
Architectural Digest | Sofisticación Mexicana | Mexico |
FT, How to Spend It | The Best of Design Miami 2016 | UK |
FT Weekend | Design Miami: from Limited Edition Jewellery to a Shimmering Café Installation | UK |
Architectural Digest | Literatura Invernal | Mexico |
Architectural Digest | New Furniture Line Channels the Mythology of Mexico | USA |
Food & Travel | Casa Dragones se Reinventa | Mexico |
Architectural Digest | Gloria Cortina la Sobriedad y la Perfeccion... | Mexico |
Luster | Gloria Cortina: "Estoy Envuelta en México" | Venezuela |
WSJ Magazine | Top Brass: Geometric Tables | USA |
Summus | Gloria Cortina, Al Interior de la Arquitectura | Colombia |
Architectural Digest | The Salon: Art+Design | Mexico |
Architectural Digest | Racionalismo Emocional | Mexico |
Architectural Digest | La Casa de Gloria Cortina, Elegante y Precisa | Mexico |
Financial Times | Mexico’s Designers Seek to Win Over Domestic Market | UK |