Mexico City Art Week’s Inspiring Highlights

Innovative, impressive art, design and architecture—both local and international

There can be no discussion of Mexico City Art Week without first mentioning the magnitude of Zona Maco, the art fair that anchors it all. There are no greater highlights than the Mexican and Latin American galleries exhibiting within Zona Maco, many of whom do not have a presence at other international art fairs. The 2024 edition, which marks Zona Maco’s twentieth anniversary, featured powerful, unexpected pieces and thought-provoking presentations by CMDX’s own Galería Enrique Guerrero and Furiosa, as well as San Gimignano, Italy’s Gallería Continua, Lima’s 80M2 Livia Benavides, New York City’s Jack Shainman Gallery and many more.

Beyond the fair, Mexico City’s extensive roster of world-class museums and innumerable architectural treasures—from extraordinary homes by Luis Barragán to surreal structures and an imaginative park by Javier Senosiain—remain a highlight every year. The following seven ephemeral selections—including entrancing gallery shows and an exclusive design pop-up predicated on international discourse—contributed to the city’s stunning annual display of art and design.

OMR

Artist Eduardo Sarabia’s inaugural solo exhibit at OMR, Four Minutes of Darkness (on view now through 26 March) envelops guests in an immersive artistic stage that features a chapel-like structure with a stained-glass ceiling, a fountain cast in shadow and ornate, vine-like illustrations that circumnavigate the entire room. On the upper floor of the gallery, guests will find his ceramic pieces, as well. The entire imaginative installation is the second of three by Sarabia to be dedicated to the total solar eclipse that will be visible in Mazatlán, Sinaloa—his family’s place of origin—this coming 8 April 2024.

Ago Projects

Opened during Mexico City Art Week but on display through the end of March, AMULETOS is Ago Projects‘s first exhibition dedicated to Guatemalan design duo Agnes Studio and features their mystical, symbol-laden second collection. From the nuances of their Cosmic Cabinet to the curves of their colorful Bolillito Sofa and Tornillo wood Ave Chairs, the design studio’s pieces feel at once familiar and foreign, rough hewn and elegant.

MASA

A collaborative exhib with Luhring Augustine, beloved Mexico City contemporary design gallery MASA‘s current show (running through 23 March) positions eye-catching pieces from various artists and designers throughout their historic, ever-unfurling space. To venture through the rooms of MASA for this exhibition is to witness an active dialogue between art, design and architecture—and to understand the power all three have when in harmony. The installation’s unexpected highlight happens to be designer Brian Thoreen‘s four chairs, each composed of thousands of sheets of manila paper that had been wrinkled, stacked and glued.

Nilufar at Casa Pedro Ramírez Vàzquez

Inside the house of internationally influential Mexican architect Pedro Ramírez Vàzquez, lauded Milan design gallery Nilufar made their milestone Mexico City debut. It was the first time the architecturally significant home opened to the public since Vàzquez’s death. The pop-up exhibition underscored the relationship between Mexico City design retailer Studio 84 and Nilufar, and featured selections from founder Nina Yashar’s Open Edition series, including new collaborative rugs from David/Nicolas and cc-tapis, as well as works by Vibeke Fonnesberg Schmidt, Filippo Carandini and Sophie Dries.

Galerie Philia and HADA X HOK

From Milan Design Week to Mexico City Art Week, Galerie Philia—the international contemporary design gallery—has become known for transformative installations that lift attendees into worlds of unrestricted imagination. This year, in partnership with Mexico City’s HADA X HOK, they staged El Elogio de La Sombra, an engulfing exhibition inspired by Japanese author Junichiro Tanizaki acclaimed essay on aesthetics, “In Praise of Shadows,” that emphasizes the work of local talent like Paola José, the founder of lighting design studio Sombra. Contributions from Eliana Portilla, Federico Stefanovich, Mesawa, Studio Ayres, as well as a life-sized sculptural piece from Pilar Zeta, and more contributed to the mysterious environment.

Kurimanzutto

Adorning the walls of Mexico City’s Kurimanzutto gallery, artist Gabriel Orozco‘s paintings and drawings, coupled with stone sculptural works on pedestals, comprise a powerful new self-titled exhibition running now through 23 March. The works pay homage to Orozco’s places of residence—from Tokyo to Acapulco and Mexico City. Perhaps most compelling, Orozco’s Diario de Plantas series is composed of miniature sketches and leaf imprints—both made with gouache, tempera, ink and graphite—delicately captured in his travel journals.

Pace Gallery at Zona Maco

It was within Pace Gallery‘s 2024 presentation at Zona Maco that we encountered one of the most compelling pieces from the entirety of Mexico City Art Week. A sculptural material study by Polish-German contemporary artist Alicja Kwade, “Trans-for-Men 7” (2023) aligns segments of stone, bronze, patinated bronze, petrified wood, steel and glass, all separated by double-sided mirror. Passing along the piece is an experience of transformation, as one vision yields to another with the perspective shift.

AD SLOT: article_culture_incontent AD SLOT
CONTEXT: incontent

This placeholder is removed when the ad slot is configured.