Connor Renwick: UNNO Gallery Unveils Latin American Art + Design for All To See

Monday, February 22, 2021

UNNO Gallery Unveils Latin American Art + Design for All To See

We can all most likely agree that technology has its positive and negative effects on society – and today we’re happy to be adding another positive with the launch of UNNO Gallery. UNNO is the first digital gallery of contemporary Latin American design, bringing together the wisdom of craftsmen and the potential of contemporary artists for all to experience. Founded by Maria Dolores Uribe and Laura Abe Vettoretti, this is a fresh way of presenting art and design, without a physical exhibition space. All of a sudden when that barrier is removed, it’s all within the reach of every city and country around the world, regardless of nationality, geography and all other limits.

The name of the gallery – UNNO – comes from the Spanish word “uno”, meaning “one”. It’s a reference to the idea that Latin American cultures, countries and peoples share a common heritage that unites them as a whole. All of the pieces you’ll find in UNNO’s gallery pay homage to Latin American culture.

Founders Maria Dolores Uribe and Laura Abe Vetteoretti \\\ Photo: Ana Hop

The founders of UNNO, Uribe and Vettoretti, share this connection through their first collection of pieces, which they consider spatial contemporary jewelry. Their aim was to use ancestral materials that the early cultures of Mexico regarded as sacred and precious, and translate those legends into conceptual lines.

We celebrate the fact that men and women before us built endless temples and filled their pottery and loom with exquisite patterns that recalled the first encounter between chaos and order. Today, we follow that formal simplicity with a potent poetic concept that runs through our veins and turns our pieces into atemporal stories. Keeping technique and exemplary execution in mind, we embrace the beauty of the handmade imperfections that add authenticity and life into our work. This — our very own process of self-definition — embodies the metamorphosis of our land into transcendent works of art that keep our ancestors alive through their tectonic significance and adding the power of our authentic identity as inhabitants of the contemporary world.