Guadalajara's 10 Best Contemporary Art Galleries And Museums
Guadalajara is fast becoming a cultural rival to Mexico City; with almost as many outlets for budding artists and none of the smog. Galleries range from commercial spaces to inclusive workshops, all bursting with Mexican color and flavor. Here are our picks for Guadalajara’s top ten galleries.
The trademark style of this sculptor is triangular faces in resin, bronze, or ceramic, which come in various sizes and warped formations. The gallery, which also has sibling stores in the nation’s capital and around Jalisco, has a large range of jewelry and accessories in addition to the sculptures, all designed by Sergio, a native Mexican artist and sculptor.
The artist behind this gallery has many feathers to his bow, turning his hand to sculpture, painting, woodwork or anything which he sets his mind to conquering. He then proceeds to imbue his objects with a distinct baroque style which makes many signature pieces look as though they came directly out of the 17th century. Agustin Parra was the artist who supplied the papal chair for John-Paul’s 1999 visit to Guadalajara, and he has had work commissioned of him on 35 other occasions. Religious ideas, grandiose flourishes and distinguished contemporary styles are what visitors can expect with a visit to Agustin Parra.
As a true champion of the arts, Casa Rombo has a wide variety of artists and styles on show and welcomes visitors every weekday evening. Rolling exhibitions have been cascading from the walls since 2006, and all are accompanied by drinks and nibbles and the promise of a positive and accessible atmosphere. Visitors can simply browse or choose to purchase works of photography, sculpture, ceramics or paintings.
Curro y Poncho recognizes the potential of the gallery space to transcend geographic boundaries, uniting artists of different backgrounds through a common exhibition platform. As a result the gallery has become a center of innovation within the city and an important influence in the shift of the art scene away from the Mexican capital. Artists such as Thomas Jeppe and Octavio Abundez have had exhibitions here, and shows typically run between two and three months. The gallery is situated on the ground floor of the CUBE tower, designed by Catalan architect and winner of the Spanish Architecture biennial, Carme Pinós.
The house specialty of La Torre de los Grillos, which translates as ‘The Cricket Tower’, is resolutely the art of engraving. The artists who formed the gallery have reunited around this under-exploited art form and are avid representatives of the technique. There are ten or so artists who form the Tower, all of whom boast different styles achieved through the same base method of scratching images onto various surfaces. Their mission is to keep the art form current, with contemporary expectations, and to continuously experiment and work together to inspire innovation within the field.
Galeria Vertice began as a platform for Latin American art, and has since expanded to include Canadian and North American art, citing artistic merit as its primary criteria as opposed to geographical constraints. Exhibitions focus either on a single artist or a group of exhibitors – a collection can be eclectic and include works from different artists for an entire season. Among the artists represented by the gallery are Hoyuki Okumura, Lewis Kant and Agustin Alfaro.
As opposed to simply displaying art, Galeria Matiz invites everyone to partake actively in its creation, with classes and workshops constantly being held. This is a family-run business which communicates via its Facebook page and which enables visitors to register for events online. Art materials are also on sale to allow customers to recreate the magic in the comfort of their own home, taking the lessons learnt with them.
Galeria Tiro al Blanco has been showcasing the best of new Guadalajara’s talent since 2012. Enrique Hernandez, Fabian Ugalde and Roberto Turnbull are among the represented artists. A recent exhibition by Roberto Turnbull demonstrated how the artist situates himself outside of any chronological discourse of art; overlapping shapes, blurring lines, colors and meanings in an attempt to engage in a dialogue with the viewer through his visual language.
The only gallery on this list to be directly under the auspices of a governmental institution, Museo de Arte Raul Anguiano is Guadalajara’s foremost public arts center. Its three exhibition halls have exhibited artists such as Leanora Carrington, Javier Campos and of course Raul Anguiano. The museum was created to display the hundred or so pieces by the much-loved Mexican artist, who, in what is perhaps his most well known work, depicted the iconic Mayan woman puling a thorn out of her foot.
Arte Foro hosts a monthly auction where both experienced buyers and amateur art enthusiasts can beef up their collections or simply enjoy a small-scale auction first hand. Behind-the-scenes artists are given expert guidance by professionals whose aim is to support new artists wishing to establish themselves on the scene. Exhibitions are constantly changing at Arte Foro, and the artists’ work ever-evolving.
