黑料不打烊

Museo Jumex exterior. Courtesy of Museo Jumex.

Magical Mexico City. A city of poetry, revolution, and art. Centuries of history, spectacular colonial architecture, intimate courtyards, extravagance, cuisine, and culture, Mexico City is a global city that has it all. In the last several years, it has increasingly become an art world destination, renowned for its up-and-coming gallery scene, prominent art collections and museums, and acclaimed art fairs ZONA MACO and Material Art Fair. Here are the must-see fairs, galleries, museums, and other attractions for a week in the Mexican capital.

Genti Korini, From Screen to Canvas nr.1., 2016, oil on canvas, 160x120 cm. Courtesy of BEERS London. At ZONA MACO SUR.

Now in its 14th year, the international contemporary art fair ZONA MACO is one of the reasons for Mexico City’s ascendance onto the global art stage in recent years. Dealers and collectors alike love ZONA MACO for its manageable size, convivial atmosphere, and high quality. This year ZONA MACO welcomes 120 galleries, from leading U.S. and European galleries like Regen Projects (Los Angeles), Luhring Augustine (New York), and Lisson Gallery (London, Milan, New York), along with outstanding galleries from around Mexico and Latin America, such as Arredondo/Arozarena (Mexico City), House of Gaga (Mexico City), and Vermelho (São Paulo).

Constanza Giuliani, Courtesy of PIEDRAS, Buenos Aires. At Material Art Fair, 2017.

Material Art Fair, now in its 4th edition, is the artist’s art fair, and serves as the perfect complement to the polish of ZONA MACO. Representing the edgy and experimental art that Mexico City’s young gallery scene is fostering, Material Art Fair was founded by Mexico City gallery Yautepec and Monterrey-based art advisory Incontemporary, and brings together project spaces, non-profits, and artist-run spaces from around the world. This year, Material Art Fair is doubling in size. Look for international galleries like Natalia Hug Gallery (Cologne), Ghebaly Gallery (Los Angeles), and Laura Bartlett Gallery (London), and local Mexico City spaces like LABOR, joségarcía mx, and Lodos.

Gabriel Orozco, 2017. Courtesy of the artist and kurimanzutto, Mexico City 2017. Photo: Estudio Michel Zabé.

Premiere Mexico City gallery kurimanzutto exemplifies the city’s innovative and unconventional spirit: before establishing itself as a major international gallery, it mounted nomadic shows throughout the city without a permanent gallery space, and nurtured a whole generation of Mexican artists. It represents some of the country’s greatest artists, like Abraham Cruzvillegas, Gabriel Kuri, and Damián Ortega, as well as international artists Rirkrit Tiravanija, Leonor Antunes, and Nairy Baghramian. During fair week, art superstar Gabriel Orozco, who has been involved with the gallery since the very beginning, reverses the proposition and brings the city into the gallery, with a fully functioning OXXO supermarket taking over the gallery space, its shelves lined with ordinary products and those with Orozco’s signature circle motif.  

Pablo Vargas Lugo, Ovipositor, at LABOR, Mexico City, Mexico, 2017. Courtesy of LABOR, Mexico City, Mexico. Photo: Ramiro Chaves.

Located walking distance from kurimanzutto, on the edge of Mexico City’s famed Chapultepec Park, LABOR is a one of the galleries that is a must-see for any visitor. Founded in 2009 by curator Pamela Echeverría, LABOR is one of the recent Mexico City galleries to establish an international reputation for risk-taking work. Many of LABOR’s represented artists work with social practice or in public space, like Jill Magid and Teresa Margolles. Its current exhibition by Pablo Vargas Lugo features a 13-meter-long cement rod, positioned like a launching missile, as its centerpiece.

Tercerunquinto, Doble fondo, installation view, PROYECTOSMONCLOVA, Mexico City, 2017. Courtesy of Tercerunquinto and PROYECTOSMONCLOVA. Photo: Rodrigo Viñas.

A few blocks from Insurgentes in the Colonia Roma neighborhood is PROYECTOSMONCLOVA, another important stop on the Mexico City gallery tour. Founded in 2005, PROYECTOSMONCLOVA focuses on providing a platform for emerging and established artists in Mexico City while cultivating a dialogue internationally. Its roster includes art prankster Christian Jankowski, mixed-media artist Martin Soto Climent, and environment-maker Adrien Missika. Opening on February 7 is an exhibition by Tercerunquinto, a collaborative between Mexican artists Gabriel Cázares and Rolando Flores, known for their architectural interventions and institutional critique.

SANGREE, Codex, 2015. Courtesy of Yautepec, Mexico City. At Material Art Fair, 2017.

Founded in 2008, Yautepec represents the new generation of art galleries in Mexico City, with an artist roster comprised mostly of artists born in the 1980s. Yautepec’s artists forge their own unique aesthetics and push the boundaries of their mediums, like San Diego-based painter and curator Morgan Mandalay, Kentucky-born Mexico City-based sculptor Chelsea Culprit, and Mexican-born Rome-based video artist and photographer Calixto Ramírez. During fair week, Yautepec will open an exhibition by Mexico City-based collaborative SANGREE, whose works collapse ancient and contemporary histories.

Museo Universitario Arte Contemporáneo. Photo: Carlos Alcocer Sola, Creative Commons License.

Located south of the city, on the campus of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), the MUAC is worth a visit as the largest public institution with a collection of national and international contemporary art. The MUAC’s challenging exhibitions feature international artists as well as archival research into topics of Mexican art history. Opening on Saturday February 11, the MUAC presents a deconstructed house by German artist Gregor Schneider, an exhibition of the archive of art critic and theoretician Juan Acha, and an exhibition by Camel Collective (Carla Herrera-Prats and Anthony Graves). You can also still catch the survey of Andrea Fraser, L’1%, c’est moi, which is up until March.

Museo Jumex exterior. Courtesy of Museo Jumex.

The Museo Jumex, which opened its doors in 2013, houses the collection of Eugenio López Alonso, heir to the Mexican juice company Jumex and the most prominent contemporary art collector in Latin America. The collection includes works by Cy Twombly, Francis Alÿs, and Fischli & Weiss, along with a strong collection of Mexican artists like Gabriel Orozco, Abraham Cruzvillegas, and Minerva Cuevas. The retrospective of Canadian collective General Idea is up through the end of this weekend, and an exhibition devoted to the works of Mexican conceptualist Ulises Carrión opens February 9.

View from Chapultepec Castle. Photo: jcbmac, Creative Commons License.

Mexico City’s art scene encircles the magnificent Chapultepec Park, making it easy to take a side-trip in to this natural wonderland. Chapultepec’s rich history spans Toltec ruins to the colonial Chapultepec Castle, and it is the site of many fantastic museums, including the Museo Tamayo, the Museo de Arte Moderno, and the Museo Casa Luis Barragan. No visit to Mexico City is complete without a stroll through Chapultepec Park.    

—Natalie Hegert