Gallery sights in Mexico
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Anahuacalli
Designed by Diego Rivera to house his collection of pre-Hispanic art, this museum, 3.5km south of Coyoacán, is a fortresslike building made of dark volcanic stone. It incorporates stylistic features from many pre-Hispanic cultures. An inscription over the door reads: ‘To return to the people the artistic inheritance I was able to redeem from their ancestors.’ If the air is clear, the view over the city from the roof is great. The House of Anáhuac (Aztec name for the Valle de México) also contains one of Rivera’s studios and some of his work, including a study for Man at the Crossroads, the mural that was commissioned for the Rockefeller Center in 1934. In Novembe…
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Garash
A gregarious toddler on the contemporary art scene, Garash was established in 2003 in this classic early 20th-century building, complete with original columns. Exhibitors are mainly Mexican and Japanese and tend to be in the innovative genre of Hisae Ikenaga, the Madrid-based sculptor famed for transforming mass produced modular furniture into startlingly contemporary sculpted forms (which is what many of us end up doing naturally when trying to assemble an Ikea flat pack!) and who has had a successful solo exhibition here. This is one of the galleries to participate in the annual MACO art fair, established in 2004 and held during the last week of April. This is considere…
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Museo de Arte Moderno
The Museum of Modern Art exhibits work by noteworthy 20th-century Mexican artists. The main building consists of four skylit rotundas, housing canvasses by Dr Atl, Rivera, Siqueiros, Orozco, Kahlo, Tamayo and O’Gorman, among others. Las Dos Fridas, possibly Frida Kahlo’s most well-known painting, is in the Sala Xavier Villarrutia. Temporary exhibitions feature prominent Mexican and foreign artists. Just northwest of the Monumento a los Niños Héroes (access is via Paseo de la Reforma), the museum has a pleasant café beside a sculpture garden.
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OMR
Housed in a grand Art Nouveau gem of a building with soaring ceilings, OMR adds its own slant to contemporary with a floor that tilts to one side, the result of settling soil (Roma is built on a dry lake bed). The gallery holds six to eight exhibitions per year and represents a broad spectrum of the most prominent painters, sculptors and photographers on both the Mexican and international art scene, like Mauricio Alejo, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, José Leon Cerrillo and Spanish artist Félix Curto.
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Laboratorio de Arte Alameda
As is often the case with museums in the Centro Histórico, the building that contains the Laboratorio de Arte Alameda is at least as interesting as its contents. The former church is just a fragment of the 17th-century Convento de San Diego, which was dismantled under the post-independence reform laws. As the museum’s name suggests, it hosts installations by leading experimental artists from Mexico and abroad, with an emphasis on electronic and interactive media.
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Museo Rufino Tamayo
This top-class pre-Hispanic art museum was donated to Oaxaca by its most famous artist, the Zapotec Rufino Tamayo (1899−1991). In a fine 17th-century building, the collection focuses on the aesthetic qualities of ancient artifacts and traces artistic developments in preconquest times. It has some truly beautiful pieces and is strong on the pre-Classic era and lesser-known civilizations such as those of Veracruz and western Mexico.
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Arróniz
Despite its location on an elegant leafy square, this gallery has a raw urban energy, with its Soho-style space and basic concrete floors. This is the only gallery in the country specializing in limited-edition engravings and prints. Artists include the new and the emerging as well as the established. A modest number of paintings and photography is generally on show here, too. Exhibitions change every three months.
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Temple of the Plumed Conch Shells
The Temple of the Plumed Conch Shells, entered from the Palacio de los Jaguares' patio, is a now-subterranean structure of the 2nd or 3rd century AD. Carvings on what was its facade show large shells - possibly used as musical instruments - decorated with feathers and four-petal flowers. The base on which the facade stands has a rainbow-colored mural of birds with water streaming from their beaks.
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Probert
A quality gallery specializing in contemporary works by Mexican and Latin American artists, plus paintings by several European and American artists now resident in Mexico. The latter include respected Dublin-born artist Phil Kelly, who has lived here since 1989 and paints evocative landscapes. Also here to tempt you is a selection of exquisite and unusual glass and ceramic beaded jewelry.
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Galería de Arte Mexicano
The first contemporary art gallery to open in Mexico City (way back in 1935). Since this time, the gallery has held close to 1000 shows, with exhibitions of smock-and-beret masters like Diego Rivera, Miguel Covarrubias, Rufino Tamayo and Frida Kahlo. The gallery continues to promote established and emerging Mexican artists and remains one of the most exciting and extensive in the city.
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Centro Cultural El Carmen
The Arco de El Carmen, at the southern end of the Andador Turístico on Hidalgo, dates from the late 17th century and was once the city’s gateway. The ex-convent just east is a wonderful colonial building, with a large peaceful garden. It’s now the Centro Cultural El Carmen, hosting art and photography exhibitions and the occasional musical event.
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Centro Cultural Muros
The city’s best art gallery, the Centro Cultural Muros is home to restored murals from Cuernavaca’s Hotel Casino de la Selva, and a private collection of more than 320 paintings, sculptures, videos and photographs. Highlights include Frida Kahlo’s Diego en mi Pensamiento, and works by Rivera, Siqueiros, Orozco, Tamayo and emerging 21st-century artists.
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Círculo Azul
The picturesque courtyard, with its tiles and 16th-century fountain, is a fitting introduction to this fine gallery, with its classic and contemporary artwork and sculpture. There’s an original painting signed by Diego Rivera, plus some stunning charcoal and ink drawings by contemporary Mexican artist, Raquel Chávez Lanz.
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Galería Juan Martín
A welcoming two-story gallery with a light, airy feel and an exciting permanent collection of paintings, pottery and photography by Mexican and international artists, as well as regular temporary exhibitions. The variety and combination of styles and themes contributes towards the appeal of the place.
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Museo Universitario Arte Contemporáneo
Designed by veteran architect Teodoro González de León, this striking new museum houses an important public collection of modern Mexican art, including works by Rivera, Toledo and Siqueiros. Temporary exhibitions in nine halls showcase paintings, sculptures and multimedia art from Mexico and abroad.
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Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Tamaulipas
Matamoros’ excellent Museo de Arte Contem poráneo de Tamaulipas showcases quality exhibitions of photography, sculpture and painting. The building itself is a landmark modernist structure with a maze-like interior and walls set at oblique angles to the polished concrete floor.
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Lourdes Sosa
A small one-room gallery with regular exhibitions of paintings, sculptures and graphic art by renowned national artists such as Manuel Felguérez, whose massive Puerta 1808 sculpture graces the intersection between Paseo de la Reforma and Juaréz near the city center.
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Cinco Clásicos
This small gallery in an exquisitely restored 1930s dollhouse of a building deals with mainly contemporary Latin American and Mexican art. The painters include Francisco Toledo, Sergio Hernandez and Rafael Coronel. The congenial owner, Simón Alkón, speaks excellent English.
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Museo de Arte Contemporáneo
South of the Catedral de San Ildefonso, housed in the former archbishop’s palace, is the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo. This attractive museum holds permanent exhibits of Yucatán’s most famous painters and sculptors, as well as revolving exhibits by local craftspeople.
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Galería Jorge Martínez
A block north of the northeast corner of the Plaza de la Liberación, Galería Jorge Martínez is an interesting modern and conceptual art gallery in the colonial center, adjacent to, and benefitting, Guadalajara’s top art school, Artes Plásticas, operated by UDG.
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Centro Cultural Tamaulipas
The art gallery in the Centro Cultural Tamaulipas brings in temporary exhibits from a variety of Mexican artists. Also worthy on the art front is the large mural showing the history of Tamaulipas in the lobby of the Teatro Juárez.
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Museo de Arte Sacro
On the southeast side of the cathedral is the entrance to the small Museo de Arte Sacro, which displays dozens of religious paintings from the big names of the 18th century, including Miguel Cabrera, plus a chair used by Pope John Paul II during his 1990 visit.
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Galería de Arte Contemporáneo
The Galería de Arte Contemporáneo is in a renovated colonial building 1km east of the city center showing worthwhile, sometimes edgy, temporary exhibitions. There's a small movie theatre here that shows artsy films, mostly for free.
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Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Oaxaca
Though partially closed at the time of research for major renovation, a colonial house built around 1700 holds Oaxaca’s contemporary art museum, exhibiting first-rate contemporary art from Oaxaca and beyond.
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Museo de los Cuatro Pueblos
The Museo de los Cuatro Pueblos displays contemporary popular arts of Nayarit’s Huichol, Cora, Nahua and Tepehuano peoples, including clothing, yarn art, weaving, musical instruments, ceramics and beadwork.
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