Discover the art collection at Soho House Mexico City

Soho House Mexico City opened its doors to members in September as our first site in Latin America. The historic building it’s located in is full of French influences that are pared back with contemporary features from the Soho House design team, highlighting original historic details such as parquet flooring, door, window and ceiling trims, fireplaces, and frescoes. Add the expansive 19-metre outdoor pool and dining surrounded by greenery in the glass Pool House and you won’t ever want to leave. The story of the House, however, would be incomplete without its art collection, which truly connects it with Mexico’s thriving cultural scene. 

‘We were very conscious that this was our first House in Latin America. It was important to highlight the talent of Mexico City – we focused on artists born, based or trained in Mexico, and especially the people who had long-term relationships with the city,’ says Anakena Paddon, Soho House Art Collection Manager.

The art team first visited the site 14 months before the opening, but creating the collection started much earlier. Kate Bryan, Soho House Global Director of Art, worked on an art pop-up in Mexico City a few years back, and the team has long been compiling a list of Mexican artists showing at international fairs like Frieze and Miami Art Basel. 

‘It’s one of our most ambitious collections, because of a combination of factors: the fact that we had already started to build relationships in the city, the fact that the art scene is just so strong, the fact that everybody is really open, enthusiastic and full of energy – and, quite frankly, because we had such a spectacular building,’ says Bryan. ‘The confluence of those factors means that we could have the largest and most impactful pieces, the biggest amount of site-specific installations – truly, it’s a museum-level collection. We are so excited about showing it off to the members. I feel like it should be mandatory for every member in the world to visit.’

While the building itself is beautiful and retains a few traditional elements, the expressive experimental artworks help to create contemporary balance. The scale of the House also influenced the collection. ‘We have a few large spaces in the US clubs, but the Mexico City House offered us these amazing walls,’ says Paddon. ‘For example, in the main restaurant where we have three key pieces, we have the Abraham Cruzvillegas, Ana Segovia and Zhivago Duncan. We had the opportunity to play with more than three metres of height, and almost the same width, which is something that really limits us in a lot of other projects.’

Throughout the building, including the bedrooms, there are more than 150 artworks in a wide variety of media, including pottery, photography, works on paper, paintings, and textiles. There is also a range of pieces created especially for the House. 

‘One of the most incredible site-specific commissions is a floor-to-ceiling textile piece wrapped across all four walls of the reception by the duo Celeste – Gabriel Rosas Alemán and Mariá Fernanda Camarena,’ says Paddon. ‘Bárbara Sánchez-Kane (working under the alias Macho Sentimental) and Gonzalo Lebrija also contributed site-specific works. Yeni Mao is making us a hanging sculpture that’s going to live in the Pool House, which is made of cowhide leather and steel, and that’s going to be coming in a few months. Javier Barrios made us two beautiful drawings, Andrew Roberts created works on paper, and there’s a painting hanging in the main restaurant by Ana Segovia that was made with Soho House in mind.’ 

‘There are also some embroidered pieces, such as the canvas by Gabriel Rico, as well as a woven tapestry by Dr Lakra. And then we have a ceramic sculpture by Ramiro Gonzalez Luna, and photography by Lake Varea and Alejandro Almanza Pereda. We’re going to have a glass installation by Sofía Táboas, which is the first time we’ve done something of this scale. Anything that you could imagine we could put on a wall we’ve put on a wall in this House.’

The Soho House art team has worked with some of the most established art galleries in Mexico City, such as Kurimanzutto and OMR, alongside younger emerging ones. With ZONAMACO, Salón ACME and Material art fairs coming up in February, it will inevitably be in the international spotlight, even though, as Paddon puts it, ‘the city has been the contemporary hub for art and artists for much longer than it’s given its due.’

‘While we were installing this collection, I’ve never seen the kind of response we had from members. The breadth of their general culture and art knowledge was so incredible. It feels like such a healthy art environment for the House to be opening in, to have people who are going to be so passionate, either because they’re collectors, friends with the artists, or general patrons of the arts,’ she adds. ‘Between that overarching enthusiasm and the fact that Mexico City is now a hub for art fairs, I think we’re going to be seeing a lot of action around the art collection.’ 

Explore Soho House Mexico City and apply for membership.