LSS Art Advisory just returned from a fabulous trip to Mexico City for the 2018 Zona Maco, Latin America’s largest contemporary art fair. With its rich cultural heritage, modern art and architecture, and thriving artist community and gallery scene, it’s no surprise that the ancient metropolis is becoming increasingly celebrated by the global art community. Here are highlights from the fair and other must-see exhibitions from Mexico City:
Mexico City Art Week 2018
February 21, 2018
ART FAIRS:
Zona Maco
The 15th edition of Mexico’s leading contemporary art fair, Zona Maco, took place in Mexico City February 7 – 11, 2018. Featuring over 170 galleries from more than 20 countries worldwide, this year exhibitors presented works ranging from modern to contemporary by both established and emerging artists.
Other Art Fairs Worth Visiting:
GALLERIES:
Galería OMR
LSS Art Advisory enjoyed a private viewing of Mecánica de lo inestable, lead by Jose Dávila. The solo-exhibition presents two recent groups of sculptural works by Dávila, whose work reflects on modern architecture and urbanism, and the forecasts and failures of contemporary art. The sculptures on view reflect Dávila’s recent interest in balance and verticality, indicating a new direction in his career.
Galería Kurimanzutto
Nairy Baghramian’s Maintainers, features recent sculptures each consisting of three interdependent elements – raw aluminum casts, colored wax forms and lacquer painted braces. The material nature of the works exhibited implies a utilitarian purpose, challenging the boundaries between sculpture and molds, object and meaning, strength and fragility, the organic and the mechanical.
Labor Gallery
Música Para Litófonos, is comprised of new percussive sculptures, known as lithophones, by Mexican artist Pedro Reyes. A lithophone is a monolithic block with parallel cuts of varying lengths and depths, which when struck produce sounds consistent with musical notes. In addition to combining music with sculpture, the exhibition brings the static work to action, encouraging the viewer to not only observe, but to interact. For this project, Reyes employed the Mexican percussion ensemble, Tambuco, to perform an original score, establishing a dialogue between art and life, object and viewer.
Additional Must-See Galleries:
MUSEUMS/CULTURAL INSTITUTIONS
In addition to the art fairs and gallery visits LSS Art Advisory took advantage of the city’s extensive art scene, visiting some of Mexico’s most renowned cultural institutions.
Museo Frida Kahlo
Museo Frida Kahlo, popularly known as the Casa Azul (the ‘Blue House’), is the historic house and art museum dedicated to the life and work of Mexican artist Frida Kahlo. As Kahlo’s place of birth and death, the museum preserves the personal objects and reveals the private universe of Latin America’s most celebrated female artist.
Museo Anahuacalli
Museo Anahuacalli was conceived and created by famed muralist Diego Rivera to house his vast collection of pre-Hispanic objects. Much like the objects it holds, the temple-like structure, constructed of volcanic rock, evokes Mexico’s indigenous histories and cultures.
In addition to the over 50,000 artifacts collected by Rivera, the museum also features one of Rivera’s studios and some of his work, including a study for Man at the Crossroads, the mural whose original version was commissioned for Rockefeller Center. While the original mural was destroyed in 1934 for including a portrait of communist leader Vladimir Lenin, Rivera recreated the mural for the interior of Mexico City’s Palacio De Bellas Artes, where the work remains today.
Also Worth Visiting:
