New installation by Spanish design studio El Ultimo Grito opens at Rice Gallery Jan. 23

El Ultimo Grito's installation for Abierto Mexicano de Diseno Festival in Mexico City 2013. Photo courtesy: El Ultimo Grito

Rice University Art Gallery’s 2014 season will open Jan. 23 with a new installation by Spanish design studio El Ultimo Grito, led by the husband-and-wife team of Rosario Hurtado and Roberto Feo.

The couple’s work will expand upon an approach to design and construction in which they rely on their hands, bodies and readily available, inexpensive materials to “free” themselves from traditional methods of production, according to Rice Gallery. The studio’s name means “all the rage.”

El Ultimo Grito’s installation will be on view through March 16. An opening reception Jan. 23 from 5 to 7 p.m. will feature a gallery talk by the artists at 6 p.m. They will also speak at a luncheon reception Jan. 24 from noon to 1 p.m. All events are free and open to the public.

Winners of the 2012 London Design Medal, Hurtado and Feo are internationally known for creating an eclectic range of objects and installations that defy easy categorization, according to Rice Gallery. Founded in 1997 and based in London, El Ultimo Grito has done work for a range of international clients, museums and organizations, including Magis (furniture design), Lavazza (coffee products), Matadero Madrid (arts complex), Marks & Spencer (multinational retailer), Figueras (high-end seating), Uno Design (interior design and furniture), Laboral (industrial design), Museo Nacional de Arte Reina Sofia, British Airways, Claudio Buziol Foundation and the Sorrell Foundation.

Their work is in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art, New York; the Stedelijk, Museum, Amsterdam; and the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. In 2010, they founded Shopwork and POI, an independent publishing, research, education and design platform.

Rice Gallery, located on the first floor of Sewall Hall, is open Tuesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. except on Thursdays, when the gallery stays open until 7 p.m. On Sundays the gallery is open from noon to 5 p.m. The gallery is closed on Mondays and university holidays.

For more information on the installation, call 713-348-6069 or visit http://ricegallery.org, where examples of El Ultimo Grito’s work can be seen.