The Top Five Shows to Look Out for during Mexico City’s Art Week

‘Under a Loggia’

Galería Hilario Galguera

27 April – 23 July

Organized by Ingrid Lundgren and George Newall – co-founders of Winter Street Gallery in Edgartown, Massachusetts – ‘Under a Loggia’ is an open-air group exhibition of new and recent sculptures from New York-based artists Carla D’Alvia, Al Freeman, Tony Matelli and Kayode Ojo. Exhibited on the gallery’s sculpture terrace, ‘Under a Loggia’ promises to showcase some of the most exciting examples of contemporary sculpture – from D’Alvia’s soft, plush forms depicting everyday items, such as soda cans and mirrors, to Ojo’s shiny and seductive glass-and-steel found objects.

‘Siembra’

kurimanzutto  

27 April – 2 May

Since February 2020, blue-chip gallery kurimanzutto has led the collaborative exhibition project ‘Siembra’, through which it offers seven of its spaces to different galleries, artists and collectives in order to diversify its programming and connect to the larger art community in Mexico City. As part of ‘Siembra’, and for this year’s Art Week in CDMX, kurimanzutto will present new individual projects by artists Minerva Cuevas, Bárbara Sánchez-Kane, Damián Ortega and Wilfredo Prieto. Guest galleries include Galería Agustina Ferreyra, LLANO, Yope Project Space from Oaxaca and Salón Silicón, which is presenting ‘SEXtrauma’, the third part of the gallery’s long-term curatorial project on sex.

Ricardo González

Daniela Elbahara

17 April – 5 June

In 2019, Daniela Elbahara opened her own gallery after five years of co-directing Mexico City’s Material Art Fair, which she co-founded with Brett W. Schultz in 2013. Now, Elbahara showcases emerging and mid-career artists from all over the globe in a cosy, modest space in La Condesa. This spring, Elbahara presents ‘Frutos’, the gallery’s second solo exhibition of work by Mexican-born painter Ricardo González. Currently based in New York, González makes paintings that are loose and expressive, with spurts of cartoonish figuration. In this new body of work, the artist presents a suite of tableaux (all works 2021) depicting a narrative between a man, a woman, a cat and an array of fruit.

Gabriel Rico

Galería OMR

20 March – 14 August

Galería OMR presents ‘I May Use an Electric Drill, but I May also Use a Hammer’, Gabriel Rico’s first solo exhibition with the gallery. The Mexican artist – best known for his installations and sculptures – uses found objects, taxidermy and ceramics to create immersive environments that raise existential questions. Here, on the first floor of the gallery, Rico covers the walls with branches and neon lights, and places two taxidermy animals – a deer and an oryx – at the centre of the space. The site-specific installation also includes an augmented-reality component: when viewed through a smart device, speech bubbles appear above the two creatures, while a digital fox prances through the space. On the second floor, Rico presents a new series of painted wooden sculptures alongside Huichol-inspired ‘nierika’ works, made by affixing colourful yarn onto wood surfaces with beeswax.

Allan Villavicencio

Galería Karen Huber

27 April – 26 June

Having previously participated in a number of groups shows at Galería Karen Huber, Mexican artist Allan Villavicencio now celebrates his first solo exhibition at the gallery, ‘Pieles Ciegas’ (Blind Skin). Known for his large paintings in acrylic and oil, the artist often creates brightly coloured landscapes that veer towards abstraction. ‘Pieles Ciegas’ comprises a series of smaller paintings and sculptures surrounding El cortejo (The Courtship, 2021), a large-scale triptych depicting an ethereal environ.

Mexico City's Art Week takes place 27 April – 2 May.