Pedro Friedeberg

Painter and designer Pedro Friedeberg was born in Florence in 1937. In 1940, he moved with his German parents to Mexico. Beginning in 1957, he studied architecture for three years at the Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico City, though he did not complete his degree. Heavily influenced by the teaching and encouragement of artist Mathías Goeritz, Friedeberg went on to become a part of Mexico’s Surrealist art movement.

He has used architectural drawings to create surprising compositions on paper, and his paintings often incorporate repeated elements and express a larger sense of irony. Friedeberg has designed furniture as well as other, nonfunctioning objects. His most famous design to date is the sculptural, 1960s Hand Chair; shaped as a hand, this chair requires users to sit on the palm and use its fingers as an arm- and backrest.

His work is included in the permanent collections of the Museo de Arte Moderno Mexico City, MoCA in L.A., the Louvre, the Smithsonian Institute, and the Museum of Arts and Design in New York.

Friedeberg lives and works in Mexico City.