Guadalajara Art Week Spotlights Local Scene, Draws International Museums

(MENAFN- USA Art News) The fifth annual Guadalajara Art Week, held from September 24 to 27, highlighted the city's rich cultural heritage, featuring figures like Dr. Atl, influential projects from the early 1990s, and emerging artists. The citywide program, which takes place each year in late September, continues to expand, attracting increased engagement from local collectors while maintaining an intimate atmosphere.

Central to Guadalajara Art Week was Estación Material, a boutique fair launched by Brett Shultz of Mexico City's Feria Material. The event featured exhibitions, open studio tours, and independent projects. Guadalajara, Mexico's third-largest city, also hosts a gallery weekend before Mexico City's art week in February. This parallel activity demonstrates a vibrant local art scene with its own momentum, which also benefits from the capital's international prominence in a largely centralized national art landscape.

While Guadalajara Art Week attracts numerous visitors and galleries from Mexico City, its community-focused art scene distinguishes it as an art destination. This ethos guided Estación Material, whose initial two editions were hosted at artist José Noé Suro's Cerámica Suro facility, a significant local venue since the 1990s.“The fair emerged from a shared interest in activating the national scene amidst the pandemic,” Shultz told The Art Newspaper.

This year, Estación Material took place at Plataforma, a non-profit located in a former funeral home. It brought together 18 galleries and independent project spaces from Mexico City and Guadalajara, presenting group shows in an open format. The fair engaged local collectors through a new hosting committee and Mexico's first institutional acquisitions committee, a model inspired by Argentina's Arteba, where collectors co-finance acquisitions.

Shultz explained the initiative:“The idea was to involve local collectors, building on longstanding relationships. Guadalajara is a city where we can experiment and has all the elements for an art fair of this scale to work.”

The acquisition program included participation from the Fundación Museo Reina Sofía in Madrid and the Saint Louis Art Museum. Amanda de la Garza, a curator from Monclova, Mexico, and currently the deputy artistic director of the Museo Reina Sofía, commented:“For the museum, Latin American representation is key, and we want to advance in Mexico. This is a great opportunity to support the local scene.”

Mexico City-based galleries Gobernador and Alejandra Topete, both first-time participants, expressed optimism. Camila Knowles, director of Gobernador, stated:“We connected with local collectors who opened their homes for meaningful interactions.” Alejandra Topete agreed, describing Estación Material as“detail-oriented and complete.” Dealers noted mixed sales but a prevailing positive sentiment. For example, local gallery Palma sold three-quarters of its solo presentation of paintings by Julieta Beltrán, while Guadalajara90210, which has locations in both Guadalajara and Mexico City, reported multiple sales to Mexican collectors.

The Mexico City and Madrid-based gallery Travesía Cuatro, which no longer has a Guadalajara outpost but remains active locally, showcased a presentation featuring a sculpture by Jorge Méndez Blake: a disheveled car with one wheel supported by a stack of haiku books. Guadalajara-based gallery Curro exhibited paintings by local artist Juan Manuel Salas, who also directs the experimental painting residency Déficit.

A highlight was Material's two-year Projects program, which supports emerging initiatives. It featured organizations from across Mexico, including Un Dique from Ciudad Juárez and Proyectos Espectra from Mérida, reflecting the diverse art scenes beyond Mexico City.

Elsewhere, Estudio Acme, organized by the Mexico City fair Salón Acme, returned to Sala Roxy with a curated exhibition exploring a dystopian garden through existing works and large-scale commissions. Its open-air exhibition space benefited from clear weather.

A new fair, Días Feriados, offered a more experimental alternative at the former Santa Teresa convent, exhibiting artists aged 20 to 35. Hiram Constantino, the fair's founder, noted that the event, which is free for visitors, developed from seven years of collaborative work at the independent initiative Otro Espacio. He said:“We are opening doors for young artists mainly from the Bajío region.”

The week's programming underscored a reality in Guadalajara: contemporary art galleries are fewer compared to independent initiatives and those exploring new models. For instance, Palma combines exhibitions and artists' studios with displays from the collection of its co-owners, Poly Padilla and Xavier X Calderón, both of whom serve on Material's acquisition committee. Emerging local gallery Castillo Interior participated in Días Feriados and hosted a silent auction at the home of another acquisition committee member, Hugo Cuesta Tamayo.

A growing art hub now occupies a former train storage facility in the city's Morelos neighborhood. Artist Gabriel Rico established a studio there in 2019, followed by others, including artist Temoc Camacho and gallery Enllamas, who recently opened spaces. The legacy of the late Guadalajara-based curator and collector Carlos Ashida is evident in Solin Ignis's skilled use of the Gobelins technique, which Ashida helped introduce to the city. Alejandro García Contreras, who has a studio in the former train yard and produces ceramics at Suro, stated:“We work as a community.”

The Museo Panteón de Belén and Suro were prominent venues during this edition of Guadalajara Art Week. At the former, Chilean artist Constanza Almazán showcased ceramics produced during a Suro residency in a candlelit display.

Established artists connected to Guadalajara's scene were also featured prominently. Méndez Blake's expansive studio also functions as a showroom. Marco Rountree's stone works, inspired by muralist Juan O'Gorman's stone mural technique, were presented in Guadalajara90210's Material presentation, which Rountree co-founded, and at Estudio Acme. He also co-curated the new exhibition Industrial Symphony in Two Movements, on view until February 7, 2027, at the Museo de Arte de Zapopan, with Alma Saladín.

On the final day of Estación Material, the museum acquisitions, both from the Mexico City-based gallery Peana, were announced. The Reina Sofía acquired Heavy Blood ( 2018 ), a video by Mexican artist Naomi Rincón Gallardo. The Saint Louis Art Museum acquired two works by Mexico City-based French artist Julia Rometti.

The evolving format of Estación Material reflects the local art scene's increasing momentum and the growing international attention that Guadalajara Art Week is attracting. Shultz concluded:“There is no one-size-fits-all. Especially in Mexico, we should look for the most suitable model for each city, with a sustained future in mind.”

Source: The Art Newspaper

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