Zona Maco

To get anchored in the Future

The international contemporary art fair Macoméjico 2015 held in Mexico City, between February 4 and 8, in its 12th edition. A significant number of galleries and artists participated, Mexican and international, with much of the already seen, what must be seen and yet another bit of what has become usual to see. Works representing over 1500 artists and one hundred twenty galleries from twenty countries were also seen, browsed, admired and, better yet, bought, in the act of faith that is the mise en scene at Centro Banamex, one of the new cathedrals of contemporary art in Latin America, with its diverse ways of appropriating concepts, form and content of global social fabric, postmodern and yet so definitely similar, as has always been the turbulence, nature and compulsions that go beyond and conform the human gender.

Hence this fair has brought together a whole universe of themes, materials and techniques in dissimilar manifestations such as painting, photography, sculpture, video, installation and design. All under the signature of established and emerging teachers convened by the importance of an event that is already one of the most face platforms, to others the most important of international contemporary art in the Latin American context.

Founded and directed since then by Zélika Garcia, who at the opening pointed that " Zona Maco opens its doors to new artistic proposals outlining new routes in the world of international art" - the fair gathered, as every year, renowned galleries and artistic firms that showed their clamorous criteria during the five days of the show. - Divided into five sections like, General, New proposals, Modern Art, Zona Maco Design and Zona Maco South, bets, as in previous years, the integration of styles, artistic movements, technologies, daring proposals and even boring conventional mixing elements: texts, graffiti, glass, building materials, kinetic art, geometric, abstract, bricks, mirrors, wood and a promising and so rampant.

The General section, located in the central and largest area of the fairgrounds, showed the projects of consolidated and known galleries as Ethra (Mexico DF), Bill Brady (Miami), RaffaellaCortese (Milan), Paul Kasmin (New York), Von Bartha galleries (Basel), Victoria Miro (London), Cayon (Madrid), Pepe Cobo (Lima) and David Zwirner (New York).

In this area interesting but less quoted artists and other strong international draft as the persecuted YayoiKuzama present her work in the last three galleries, with several pictures and the piece Dog (2014), a sculpture of a blue dog with yellow dots of 180 000 US dollars at the David Zwirner, or Pumpkin, her sculpture of a large pumpkin at London Victoria Miro.

Also at David Zwirner a series of small paintings by Francis Alÿs and the work of Richard Serra, widely represented in the exhibition by three European galleries. In the Carreras Mugica gallery(Bilbao), very strong pieces of the Catalan Antoni Tapies, a carbon and graphite painting by Raul Dominguez 2014, works by Pello Irazu again Richard Serra and mythical pieces of Eduardo Chillida, including Lurra sculpture, worthy 275 000 dollars. The Mai 36 gallery (Zurich) gathered the Cuban Raul Cordero and Flavio Garciandía (Disney Strikes Back, 2015) with works by Thomas Ruff and John Baldesari, a bronze sculpture of Rita McBride and photographs of Robert Mapplethorpe.

Cuban Carlos Garaicoa with works in the Continua gallery (San Gimignano / Beijing / Les Moulins) and also AnishKapoor and MichelangeloPistoleto. Mexican artists such as Abraham Cruzvillegas, Gonzalo Lebrija and José Dávila with their mirrors in balance in the Crossing Four gallery (Madrid / Guadalajara).

In this section the Mexican Art Gallery, serving for eighty years, showed the graffiti on every wall of Stefan Bruggerman with works of the three great Mexican muralists: Siqueiros, Orozco and Diego Rivera. 

And much more, like the very popular works with neon and mirrors of the Chilean Ivan Navarro in Paul Kasmin gallery in New York or the Japanese artist in the Spanish gallery ChiharuShiota NF.

New proposals, curated by Pedro de Val, artistic director of Zona Maco and consisting of twenty galleries, showed the art of emerging artists and works of lower cost created by independent artists, in a commitment to new values and trends of the various ways of undertake art and project a new vision of contemporary tools.

Works as beautiful and sapient carbon and graphite drawings of Cuban Frank Mujica in the Servando gallery (Havana) were present. Knoerle & Baettig gallery (Winterthur) showed the work of three Latin American

artists: Argentinian Martin Cordiano, whose work becomes a painting made from scrap; the Mexican Alejandro Perez Falconi graduated from ISA in Havana, with his series of photographs of ecological vocation on waste dumped on the beach; and suggestive painting and delivered to the persistence of his own identity and nature of the Cuban Alejandro Campins.

The Spanish gallery Paula Alonso brought the Serbian NebojsaDespotovic with gloomy paintings which struggled figuration and concept, and also the Spanish Chema Lopez. The Yam gallery wore photographs of the facility in the Chilean Norton Maza, and the JohanesVogt gallery

(Norway) with the work of the Brazilian Tatiana Blas, small format paintings inspired by the work of HenrikIbsen, the famous Norwegian playwright. While Ultraviolet Projects Gallery (Guatemala) presented the work of Japanese AkiraIkezoe deserves this year theTequila 1800Award.

The space for modern art section was curated by Mauricio Macía. 

Fourteen galleries showed works that from the first half of the twentieth century show the arrival of modernity in Latin American lands.

Galleries as Mayoral (Barcelona) with powerful and expensive works as a motive for the American Alexander Calder of one million dollars; a piece of Joan Miró of $ 875,000, and works by Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dali and even a piece of Jean-Michel Basquiat.

Artists such as Victor Vasarely, MathiasGoeritz, Siqueiros, Orozco, Filguerez, Leonora Carrington, Wilfredo Lam, Agustin Cardenas, Julio Le Parc, Cruz-Diez, Fernando Szyslo, Max Ernst and Eduardo Chillida at galleries and Cayón (Madrid), DurbanSegnini (Miami) GAM (Mexico DF), Enrique Guerrero (Mexico DF), KM Fine Arts (Chicago / Los Angeles), RGR + ART (Caracas) and Oscar Roman (Mexico DF).

Zona Maco Design accessed enjoyed a good proposal, defended by twenty Mexican and foreign firms and cured by industrial designer Cecilia Leon de Barra, which showed the validity of including the design and functional element connected with art so as to validate a sensory and utilitarian enjoyment. The proposal included work with objects, jewelry, woolen coats, fur coats, furniture and interior design. So different pieces like the creations of Oaxacan artisans with objects of low prices, even expensive mosaics of Francisco Toledo.

Anyway in this area the most conspicuous was the OtherCriteria Gallery, publishing and design house of super valued design of British artist DamienHirst, with its painted skulls and carpets with colorful dots and patches at great prices.

The presence of stands with the Fitzgerald firm (New York), Downtown (Paris), Odabashian (Miami), Iago (Oaxaca) plus Pirwi, Orfeo Quagliata, Rococo and Tane, Amphora, Artell, Bi Yuu, Design Center German, Esrawe and Trouvé, all of Mexico DF, prestige the delivery.

Zona Maco South curated by Joâo Mourâo and Luis Silva presents proposals where galleries and artists participate by direct invitation of the curators. The intention is to discuss the future of art from a search and identification with the roots of the theoretical and behavioral principles that enabled the meaning of art in the past.

Here was the powerful work in works such as the installation of flags of Latin American countries, but all of a single red color, of Mauritius Ianes from Brazil with Y Gallery (New York), and the sculpture of Gdl Mateo López (Colombia) with House Riegner (Bogota) & Crossing Four (Madrid / Guadalajara), which were sold at high prices. 

Gabriel Acevedo (Peru) with the Livia Benavides gallery (Lima); AsierMendizabal (Spain) with Carreras Mugica (Bilbao); PetritHalilaj

(Kosovo) with Chert (Berlin); RyanGander (Great Britain) with Marc Foxx (Los Angeles); Deball Mariana Castillo (Mexico) with Kerimanzutto (Mexico DF) and Carla Filipe (Portugal) with Múrias Centeno (Porto) also participated.

To enjoy art from the codes of contemporary, but still looking to the past, can be one of the pillars underpinning today a fair like Zona Maco, where contemporary art unfolds its arsenal of wonder, cosmopolitanism and daring, but final roots that sustain its splendor still have a consistent and revealing nexus. Undoubtedly, for galleries and artists from all over, this fair will be an event to be considered, be shown and be valued. It will be a confirmation that you must have something to say and therefore think about the future.