Mexico City recently had its post-pandemic reawakening earlier last month with the opening of Zona Maco, the most prominent contemporary art fair in Latin America, after being postponed for over two years. During Zona Maco, people worldwide visit the city to experience its exciting art week full of new exhibitions and parties. Visiting during this time of year is fun but overwhelming. I spent a couple of weeks in Mexico City exploring commercial art spaces to share the ultimate Mexico City art guide that extends beyond the city's art week with you. This article will help you find the best places to find great and exciting contemporary artists from Mexico and abroad.
Here is my complete list of art fairs and galleries the Latin American art capital has to offer. Enjoy!
ZONA MACO
Dates: February
Location: Centro Citibanamex
Entrance Cost: $450 mxn ($22 usd)
Zona Maco is the largest art fair platform in Latin America. Founded in 2002 by Zélika García, it holds four events annually at Centro Citibanamex in Mexico City. It brings together leading and emerging national and international art galleries.
MATERIAL ART FAIR
Dates: 28.04 – 01.05.2022
Location: Sabino 369, Mexico City
Entrance Cost: $200 mxn ($10 usd)
Material Art Fair was first launched in 2013, making this year its 8th running year of being dedicated to showcasing exciting contemporary art. It usually takes place in February, during the dazzling Mexico art week, however this year it is happening in April/May. Unlike Zona Maco, this art fair has more emerging galleries with much more affordable prices.
SALÓN ACME
Dates: February
Location: Calle Gral. Prim 30-32,
Juárez, Cuauhtémoc, 06600
Ciudad de México
Entrance Cost: $300 mxn ($15 usd)
Located in an old re-purposed mansion, Salon ACME is an exciting art fair to visit and discover emerging artists. It was created by and for artists nine years ago and it seeks to give visibility to creators that develop their work both in Mexico and abroad.
ARTHOUSE PROJECT
Dates: February
Location: Casa Versalles, Versalles 113,
Juárez 06600,
Ciudad de México
Entrance Cost: $250 mxn ($12 usd)
This year, Mexico City witnessed the birth of Arthouse Project, a new art fair for emerging artists located in the beautiful space of Casa Versalles. Arthouse Project is a hybrid and multidisciplinary platform for artistic and social development whose mission is to exhibit and bring together different disciplines in art, architecture, photography, design, and fashion.
KURIMANZUTTO
Location: Gobernador Rafael Rebollar 94,
San Miguel Chapultepec I Secc,
Miguel Hidalgo, 11850 CDMX
Entrance Cost: Free
kurimanzutto was founded on August 21st, 1999 in Mexico City by José Kuri, Mónica Manzutto, and a group of thirteen artists. Following an idea proposed by Gabriel Orozco, for many years, kurimanzutto did not have a fixed space - for each event or exhibition, the gallery and artists chose a specific location to best suit the project. In 2008, they opened a permanent space, a former timber yard built in1949 which was restored by Alberto Kalach. Fast forward to the present day, kurimanzutto is one of the most prominent contemporary art galleries in Mexico with a second location in New York City. This is where you'll find exhibitions by internationally established and blue-chip artists.
TRAVESÍA CUATRO
Location: Calle de Valladolid 35, Roma Norte
06700, CDMX
Entrance Cost: Free
Travesía Cuatro is an art gallery originally from Madrid, Spain that has created roots in Mexico with locations in Guadalajara and Mexico City. The Mexico City gallery opened in 2019 and it is located in the beautiful Roma neighborhood. They represent emerging to established artists.
MAIA CONTEMPORARY
Location: Colima 159, Roma Norte,
Cuauhtémoc, 06700 CDMX
Entrance Cost: Free
Established in 2017, MAIA Contemporary gallery showcases the work of both established and emerging artists offering a broad spectrum of ideas and practices. The gallery space is located in the heart of Mexico City´s vibrant Roma neighborhood encased in a monumental “Porfirian” house.
CAMPECHE
Location: Campeche 130, Roma Sur,
Cuauhtémoc, 06760 CDMX
Entrance Cost: Free
Campeche is a contemporary art gallery in Mexico City, founded in 2020 by Fátima González and Alejandro Jassan. Campeche is located on the ground floor of the 1951 Art Deco building Kin Pech in the historical neighborhood of Roma Sur and was renovated by the Mexican architecture firm oioioi. They represent emerging and mid-career artists both from Mexico and abroad.
AGO PROJECTS
Location: Av. Paseo de la Reforma 382-int 501,
Juárez, Cuauhtémoc,
06600 CDMX
Entrance Cost: Free
AGO Projects is a design-driven practice and designer representation space started by Rudy F. Weissenberg and Rodman Primack. With locations in Mexico City and New York, this platform enhances international alliances and opportunities for the artists they work with. This is a great place to find incredible design objects made by hand.
LABOR
Location: Gral. Francisco Ramírez 5,
Ampliación Daniel Garza, Miguel Hidalgo,
11840 CDMX
Entrance Cost: Free, Appointment Required
Founded by Pamela Echeverría in Mexico City, LABOR opened in 2009 working with artists whose creative processes are based on long-term research within a contemporary social/political context. The gallery works with a mix of young and mid-career artists, both Mexican and international.
JO-HS
Location: Gobernador José Guadalupe Covarrubias 46,
San Miguel Chapultepec I Secc, Miguel Hidalgo,
11850, CDMX
Entrance Cost: Free
JO-HS is a multifunctional studio, exhibition space, and home located in San Miguel
Chapultepec, Mexico City, founded by Danish curator Elisabeth Johs during the pandemic. This is a great space to find artwork by international emerging artists.
CASA EQUIS
Location: casaequis.com
Casa Equis is an art gallery that began with a physical and online space. It was founded by two visual artists, Diego Beyro and Carleti López Traviesa, along with Antoine Millet. It's named Casa (House) because the project began in the apartment of one of the founders, Diego's, and Equis (Whatever) because the founders don't care about pretensions. The project has the freshness and warmth of an artist-run space. During the last few days of their physical space in the Del Valle neighborhood, I visited the gallery. There were two rooms in the back of Diego's house - one for solo exhibitions and the other (image above) for displaying all works available from various artists. The gallery works mainly with young emerging artists, so this is a great place to acquire affordable artworks.
They are currently changing things up, so their next physical space is yet unknown. However, their online shop is still available. Make sure to visit them here to shop for art.
LAGO/ALGO
Location: Bosque De Chapultepec
Entrance Cost: Free
The new cool kid in town! LAGO/ALGO new cultural space nestled in Mexico City's largest park, Bosque de Chapultepec. The space was designed by Modernist architect, Alfonso Ramírez Ponce in1964. The concrete structure overlooking a lake is now home to a cafe, workspace, a conscious farm-to-table restaurant conceived by chef Micaela Miguel and an artistic space led by OMR, one of Mexico’s preeminent contemporary art galleries. Even though it feels like a museum-like space, all the artwork on display is for sale.
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