Architect Gerardo Sarur's roundup of Zona Maco Art Week

‘As a result of the pandemic, Mexico City’s annual art fair, Zona Maco, was postponed to 2022. In its place, the city hosted Zona Maco Art Week, a seven-day festival that was organised by some of Mexico’s most prolific galleries. Collectively, they showcased work from a selection of the city’s most exciting artists in a display of solidarity in troubling times. Here’s what I got up to throughout the week.’

Tuesday 
Gabriel Rico at Galería OMR 
‘I’ve been following Gabriel Rico’s career and collecting his work for many years now, so I was excited to see his solo show I May Use An Electric Drill, But I Also Use A Hammer. His work fuses both found and natural objects to create remarkable and profound pieces of art. It’s really special when you get to witness an artist’s development over the course of time. Make sure you check out his solo show at Perrotin art gallery at Frieze New York.’

omr.art; @galeriaomr

Wednesday 
Museo Jumex
‘After cardamom rolls and coffee at Panadería Rosetta, curator Kit Hammonds gave me a guided tour of the exhibition Normal Exceptions: Contemporary Art In Mexico at the Museo Jumex, which focuses on contemporary artists living and working in the city, whether native or not. Some notable mentions include Francis Alÿs, Damián Ortega, Pia Camil, and Jose Davila. For dinner, I headed to Restaurante Nicos; it serves some of the best authentic Mexican food courtesy of chef Gerardo Vazquez Lugo.’

fundacionjumex.org/en; @museojumex
@panaderiarosetta

Thursday
Proyecto Paralelo
‘My friend Issa Benítez Dueñas held a pop-up at the Spanish Galeria La Caja Negra called Proyecto Paralelo to showcase the work of prolific artists including Richard Serra, Anish Kapoor, Cynthia Gutiérrez, and Mathias Goeritz. After a long gallery tour, we made a quick pit stop at seafood restaurant Contramar. It ended up being a typical sobremesa [a Spanish tradition of relaxing at the table after a big meal], where we shared our thoughts on all of the work we’d seen so far over mezcals and carajillos.’

proyectoparalelo.art; @proyectoparalelomx
lacajanegra.art
contramar.com.mx

Things Happen In A Silent Way’ exhibition by Jorge Satorre

Friday 
Labor
‘We headed to Labor art gallery, which had collaborated with Peana, another local art space, to curate the exhibition Las Cosas Suceden De Forma Silenciosa (which translates to “things happen in a silent way”). This was their second time working together to showcase the work of breakthrough artists, such as Jorge Satorre and the art duo Asma. After working up an appetite, I hosted a socially distanced lunch with Tequila 1800 to celebrate Art Week in Casa Ortega, a beautiful house and studio designed, and used by, the architect Luis Barragán.’ 

labor.org.mx/; @l_a_b_o_r
casaluisbarragan.org/lacasa/jardin.html

Saturday 
Máximo Bistrot
In the spirit of art and sobremesas, I hosted another socially distanced brunch at the restaurant Máximo Bistrot in Roma Norte. It recently relocated to a beautifully lit heritage building, which is in the centre of Mexico City’s culinary and artistic neighbourhood. Despite the move, its founding principles remain intact: to make a kitchen that distinguishes the best from the best.

maximobistrot.com.mx; @maximobistrot

Sunday
Studio IMA
My friend Bettina Kiehnle is the founder of Studio IMA, a cultural venue, design studio and gallery that’s housed in an intimate apartment. For Zona Maco, they hosted a group of designers and artists like Yellow Nose Studio, Disciplina, Kim Bartelt, and more. To cure our hangovers from the previous night, we drank Clamato and cervezas.

studioima.com; @_studioima_


sarquitectura.com/en/contacto; @sarquitectura
amuseumlife.com; @amuseumlife