Mexico city art — a quick note to anchor this piece for readers.
Mexico city art: Quick notes
From site-specific exhibitions in modernist houses and ballet theatres to climate-conscious curatorials, high-end British design and an exhibition by Serpentine Pavilion designers Lanza Atelier, we’ve picked out 15 events from the dizzying array on show at this year’s Mexico City art week.
Over the past twenty years, anchor art fair Zona Maco has cemented early February as the apex of Mexico City art culture, with a whole slate of smaller fairs, gallery openings, and experiences popping up around the city.
Recently, design has become a more integral aspect of the city-wide art showcase, evidenced by the addition of an explicit design section to Zona Maco, and its recent announcement of a dedicated collectible design category.
Many of the exhibitions are extremely site specific, leveraging the rich architecture of the city. Last year, Dezeen collaborated with Studio Davidpompa on a guide to must-see buildings in the city.
There’s a lot to see, so Dezeen has selected 15 things that design lovers should prioritise during the busy week.
Photo by Camila Cossio
Reuse: Architectures of Almost Nothing at Laguna
Fittingly sited at art space Laguna’s home, a reused factory, this exhibition brings together 15 studios that “work with reuse, resource efficiency, and material precision as guiding design principles”.
Curated by María Muñoz and Edgar Rodríguez, the show will highlight different cultural and aesthetic perspectives around architectural reuse.
Forma at Zona Maco
On top of the yearly design section that brings together designers at all career levels, this year Zona Maco will showcase six collectible design studios, spaced throughout the extensive international art programme.
Among the participants are international galleries Carpenters Workshop Gallery and Citco, as well as Mexican gallery Adn.
Find out more about Forma at Zona Maco ›
Fragmentos de Mar by Studio Davidpompa
Located at lighting designer Davidpompa’s showroom, a neo-baroque building in the Roma neighbourhood, Fragmentos de Mar is the latest collaboration between the studio and iconic local restaurant Contramar.
It will feature a lighting collection and installation that uses shells and other aspects of the restaurant’s seafood cuisine, “transformed into a material that tells a story of origin and renewal”, with an opening night co-hosted by Dezeen.
Unique Design X
International fair Unique Design X returns to Mexico City for its third time, making its home on the ground level of the Expo Reforma building that also houses art fair Material, with dozens of international studios, galleries and institutions showing work in unconventional arrangements.
This year, it will feature special exhibitions by Fredrik Nielson, Lea Mestres and Lorena Saravia and a section dedicated to French-Mexican creative reciprocity.
Azul y Verde by Lanza Atelier at Ago Projects
Mexico City architecture studio Lanza Atelier, which was recently selected to design this year’s Serpentine Pavilion, will present a solo exhibition at local gallery Ago Projects, in the Reforma neighbourhood.
Based around the “shared origins of blue and green across cultures and languages” the studio will present a variety of design objects.
The Resident by Lee Broom and Diez Company
British designer Lee Broom will join the lighting curator Diez Company at the company’s showroom in a historic Polanco estate.
Broom’s debut Mexico exhibition will see the designer transforming the estate with over 50 of his archival works, including some in new finishes for the exhibition.
Barragán en Barragán at Casa Romero
Founded by architect Fernando Romero, Casa Romero is a “vibrant cultural campus” located at La Cuadra, a house designed by the famed Mexican architect Luis Barragán. Romero’s organisation wants to turn the site into a “new epicenter in the Latin American art circuit “.
For the art week, Romero has tasked architect Jorge Covarrubias, and the exhibition will explore the work of Barragán through scale models and photographs.
Sanctum: Where Memory Rests by Fábrica
Part of curator Fábrica’s ongoing La Sala internacional event series, Sanctum will be hosted in the studio of Mexico City furniture producer and restorer Azotea and feature sculpture, photography, and sound design by Com. The outfit partnered with Mexico City-based American designer Jonathan Bailey to design and curate the exhibition.
It will be an “immersive, completely shoppable environment” and feature designers such as New York’s Eny Lee Parker and local Kimera Atelier.
Feria Territorio at Espacio CDMX
The organisers of Design Week Mexico, the yearly design fair in October, are launching their second major art week exhibition, underscoring the growing relevance of design during the week.
Located in the group’s modernist pavilion in Chapultepec park, dozens of designers will showcase collectible and industrial design objects.
Photo by Lazarillo.mx
Casa Locken by Omet
Austin-based, Mexican design gallery Omet will showcase a new collection in Casa Locken, a 1957 home designed by modernist architect Francisco Artigas.
The exhibition will host work from big names in Mexican architecture and design, including pieces by Tatiana Bilbao, Fernanda Canales, and Raúl de la Cerda.
Inner Stage by Studio 84
Following up on its 2025 installation at Casa Max Cetto, Studio 84 has teamed up with several institutions for an exhibition and performance series at Escuela del Ballet Folklórico de México de Amalia Hernández.
Unno Gallery will showcase work by Alana Burns, Lucía Echavarría, and Andrea Vargas Dieppa; CC-Tapis is presenting rugs by Scarlett Rouge and Sabine Marcelis and 6:AM will show a series of sculptural works.
Photo by Fabian Martinez
La Metropolitana at Edificio Vizcaya
Mexican designers and fabricators La Metropolitana will fill the historic Edificio Vizcaya, a historic building in the Juarez neighbourhood.
A series of sculptural chairs by the studio will be used for activations, such as a collaboration with the New York restaurant Comal at Origen in the space.
Viso Collective Materia by Viso Project
New York-based curatorial platform Viso Project is putting on an exhibition for the first time in Mexico.
With a focus on materials that show the “juxtaposition between the delicate and the robust” it will feature commissioned works by designers such as Chuch Estudio, Maremoto, and Esteban Tamayo Ramosaremoto.
Codices by Balmaceda
Milan-based Mexican rug design studio Balmaceda will present its new collection at an exhibition in the city’s Loma neighbourhood.
The collections “draws inspiration from ancestral Mexican architecture, reinterpreting pyramids, reliefs, and ancient codices through a contemporary design language” in a series of rugs, tapestries and other woven works.
La Píldora by Clásicos Mexicanos
Local studio Clásicos Mexicanos, known for its recreation of iconic modernist design, sometimes from as little as hazy photographs, is putting on an exhibition at La Píladora, a house by modernist architect and designer Roberto Eibenschutz.
The exhibition will restore the house through the placement of historic design recreations.
Mexico City art week is on in locations across the city from 1 to 9 February. For more architecture and design happenings, visit Dezeen Events Guide.
