As the leading art fairs and art weeks have rapidly grown bigger, more overwhelming and increasingly homogenized, art world professionals and collectors are turning their attention to dynamic and expanding art scenes outside of major art hubs. These pockets of artistic energy, removed from the gravitational pull of global art capitals, combine international influences with deeply rooted local traditions and perspectives in a way that can feel far more engaging than the broader contemporary art scene. In these spaces, the connection between art, place and creator feels tangible—unmediated by the market-driven uniformity that dominates mainstream events.
Guadalajara, in Jalisco, Mexico, is a prime example of this phenomenon, with its vibrant artist-led community that attracts collectors and professionals from around the world. What started as a spontaneous gathering—artists inviting visitors to the city ahead of ZONAMACO—has evolved into ART WKND GDL (a.k.a., Guadalajara Art Weekend), a well-established and organized event that heralds Mexico City Art Week.
Located in the central-western state of Jalisco, Guadalajara is Mexico’s second-largest city in both economy and population. While widely known as the birthplace of tequila and mariachi, it also has an extraordinary artistic heritage spanning centuries, from its historic architecture and Luis Barragán’s projects to the so-called “Mexican Sistine Chapel,” where José Clemente Orozco’s magnificent frescoes adorn Instituto Cultural Cabañas and the Palacio de Gobierno.
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In recent decades, Guadalajara has cultivated an impressively robust art and creative scene driven by a generation of artists, architects, designers and fashion creatives who have chosen to make the city their base, becoming instrumental in the city’s cultural renaissance in the process. Artists like Gonzalo Lebrija, Gabriel Rico, Jose Dávila, Jorge Méndez Blake and Eduardo Sarabia have not only achieved international recognition in a remarkably short time but have also drawn attention to Guadalajara’s art scene while fostering a new generation of creatives—one that can establish and develop practices locally rather than seeking opportunities elsewhere.
“I think a key reason why Guadalajara is now one of the most vibrant art scenes, not only in Mexico but in the world, is that many artists decided to stay here, live here, produce, and support suppliers and artisans while collaborating in a friendly way with other artists and players in the scene,” Rico told Observer, reflecting on the organic growth that has shaped this community. Today, Rico exhibits with international galleries like Perrotin and participates in biennials and exhibitions worldwide, yet he has kept all his production in Guadalajara, working with local suppliers and creating jobs for young artists who begin their careers as assistants in his studio.
“The decision to stay and live here became contagious, and now many young artists are starting to do the same,” he said. Choosing to remain outside a major art market hub was an assertion of both self-confidence and creative independence. “First, it’s in the middle of the country with a major international airport, so you can travel anywhere in a day. Second, production—every material you can imagine is here. In my case, I work with augmented reality, ceramics, neon, brass, glass, pottery, crystal beads and thread, using many different techniques. All of them come from Guadalajara. Even the most complex process—someone here can do it. And, of course, prices are very competitive.”
Many artists based in Guadalajara today have an international presence, with projects spanning residencies, exhibitions, museums, galleries, festivals and biennials—all of which contribute to Guadalajara’s growing relevance on the global contemporary art map. But the city’s contemporary art scene has been developing since the 1990s, with key figures like legendary art dealer Carlos Ashida playing a foundational role. At his Galería Clave, Ashida was among the first to showcase now-iconic Mexican contemporary artists experimenting with new aesthetics, such as Gabriel Orozco, alongside international artists like Francis Alÿs, who had relocated to Mexico. This was also when Guadalajara hosted its first art fair, Expo Arte, which was conceived before ZONAMACO.
“This is a vibrant moment for Guadalajara because it doesn’t compete with Mexico City; it completes the Mexican scene,” according to Rico. “Now, we see this model being replicated in other cities like Monterrey and Oaxaca, though each with its own characteristics. In the next few years, I believe we’ll start to see even more art scenes emerging across Mexico, enriching and expanding the country’s artistic landscape.” He’s optimistic about the future of Guadalajara’s art ecosystem, seeing it as an unstoppable force. “From my perspective, Guadalajara has a beautiful future in contemporary art. It’s going to be one of the most vibrant art scenes in all of North America.”
Artists’ studios, more than galleries, are the pillars of ART WKND GDL. Once a year, the city’s artists open their workspaces to the public, offering food and refreshments to foster powerful moments of community connection and celebration. This past Thursday (Jan. 30), a series of gallery openings set the stage for the weekend, including a solo show of fantastical paintings in magical frames by Emily Sundblad at House of Gaga.
But the open studio itinerary officially kicked off on Friday at Eduardo Sarabia’s studio. The Los Angeles-born artist presented a group of richly decorated ceramics that meld traditional craftsmanship and ancient symbolism with contemporary aesthetics. Sarabia’s work is deeply rooted in the independent economies and folk history of northern Mexico, interrogating the dynamics of labor and trade by working with materials used by local artisans—ceramic tiles, hand-woven textiles and glass—to create sculptures and installations. During the event, he unveiled a special-edition decanter he designed for tequila brand Casa Azul, crafted in the iconic blue-and-white ceramic style that unexpectedly links Mexico and Central America with Asia through Europe, revealing a complex network of cultural and commercial exchanges. The studio also showcased a series of perfectly replicated branded cardboard boxes, the type typically used to transport mass-produced goods and food. Some had the logo of Cancino Pizza, a local pizzeria Sarabia, which offered guests refreshments in boxes designed by the artist.
The day continued with a celebration at Gonzalo Lebrija’s studio, where visitors gained insight into his conceptual practice, which explores the subjective perception of time and self as an entity in motion. Guests contemplated his ethereal geometric canvases alongside some of his most iconic photographic works and maquettes of his renowned public projects, including History of Suspended Time (A Monument for the Impossible)—a 1968 Chevy Malibu weighing approximately 2,500 pounds, captured in the act of crashing into
While visitors wandered through Lebrija’s space, the garden outside became its own lively scene, filled with traditional music, food catered by one of Guadalajara’s best seafood restaurants, La Plancha, and drinks featuring the ever-present 1800 Tequila, the event’s official sponsor. “I believe Guadalajara is becoming an important playground for artists to develop and produce works of art,” Lebrija told Observer. “It is growing fast, but it is also a strong, supportive community with positive energy.”
Next, just a few buildings away, visitors explored the studio of Jose Dávila, where they encountered his masterful works that combine organic and industrial materials. His sculptures achieve a precarious balance, integrating conceptual, philosophical, and scientific principles with remarkable precision. His background in architecture heavily informs his work—a background he shares with many artists in Guadalajara, a city where the absence of comprehensive art schools has led creatives to find alternative routes into artistic practice. The exploration of the universe’s hidden geometries is a recurring theme among this generation of artists, who repurpose and reconfigure existing materials to construct new circular systems of knowledge.
The art weekend’s studio visits were followed by a series of gallery openings, where the interplay between nature and mathematics emerged as a recurring theme. At Galería Curro, Italian and Mexico City-based artist Andrea Galvani debuted a deeply considered para-scientific speculation on the psychological, physical and existential perception of time—part of his long-term multimedia project, The Void Migrates to the Surface (2021-2024). At the heart of this new chapter is an ambitious video investigation developed using cutting-edge technology in collaboration with the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, the K. Lisa Yang Center for Conservation Bioacoustics and the Macaulay Library at Cornell University. Through this work, Galvani extended the typically fleeting lifespan of twenty butterfly species native to South America—from mere weeks to seventy-three years, the global average human life expectancy.
Meanwhile, ancient rocks sourced and imported from Perú resurface, accompanied by the voices of birds long extinct. Encircling them, vividly colored columns composed of apple species—many of which are also vanishing—create a precarious architecture of impermanence. In close collaboration with scientists, Galvani orchestrates perceptual short-circuits that provoke a powerful meditation on existence and time, shifting the viewer’s perspective beyond human experience. As with much of his broader investigation, this project engages with some of the most urgent themes of our era: the delicate geopolitical and geological balance, mass extinction, biodiversity loss and the interwoven, transitory nature of life itself.
“What makes Guadalajara a special place and its art scene so intriguing is its people. The impulse our artists have to make art for art’s sake creates a very generous environment where collaboration has become a must in a place with historically little or no government support,” Borrego Curro, founder of Galería Curro, told Observer over another round of tequila. “I have always thought that having a space in Guadalajara as a peripheral alternative to an extremely centralized country gave us the freedom to remain true to our vision. The Mexican art scene is extremely centralized, especially in its concentration of galleries, so it is important to represent geographical diversity.”
The evening continued with openings at other galleries, including Tiro Al Blanco, which capped off the night with a rooftop party celebrating ART WKND GDL in partnership with Vogue and Porsche. Run by Rodrigo Hernández, the gallery recently underwent a major expansion, allowing it to host up to three exhibitions simultaneously while seamlessly integrating indoor and outdoor spaces. “I’ve seen how the city has changed in the last twenty years, not only in contemporary art but also in design and gastronomy,” Hernández told Observer. “We built Guadalajara’s art weekend over the last twelve years, initially as an initiative of Travesía Cuatro and José Noé Suro. Travesía Cuatro opened here in 2013, and it has grown very organically, progressively attracting the attention of the global contemporary art community.”
During the art weekend, the gallery unveiled a solo exhibition of spiritual geometric abstractions by Guadalajara-based artist Isa Carrillo, alongside minimalist geometric sculptures by Garth Evans and a group show in collaboration with New York-based RegularNormal gallery. The latter featured a selection of young international artists gaining traction in the U.S., like Bony Ramirez, Ho Jae Kim, Gabrielle Benak, Melanie Delach, Maya Fuji, Aria Alanzar and Annette Hur. Extending its support to the broader creative community, the gallery also hosted a series of pop-ups showcasing local designers, including FER Guerra Ceramica, Elso and Abl Estudio, throughout the weekend.
Rodrigo Hernández remains optimistic about the city’s flourishing art scene. “Guadalajara is not a city of galleries or museums; it’s a city of artists, which is one of the most important things,” he told Observer, referring to the beginning of a new era. “In the next ten years, we will see the city become one of the cultural capitals of Latin America and the world.”
For others, the night continued with a walkthrough and dinner at Plataforma, a newly established multilevel contemporary art center spearheaded by art collector and ceramics entrepreneur José Noé Suro, alongside fellow collector Nidia Elorriaga. Housed in a former funeral home redesigned by architect Sergio Ortiz y Ai Taller, the space was conceived as a dynamic hub to support and showcase Guadalajara’s artists while strengthening ties with the international art scene. Spanning three floors, Plataforma includes a dedicated exhibition space for Suro’s collection, an international curatorial program featuring four interconnected exhibitions that spotlight local talent, and a top-floor residency program for emerging artists under thirty—one from Guadalajara and one from abroad per cycle. The uppermost level also houses Bar De La Cruz, a strikingly designed bar with a terrace overlooking the city, which remained lively throughout the night as the local and international art communities mingled, fueled by drinks sponsored by 1800 Tequila and mixed with Electrolit to keep celebrations going late into the night.
The highlight of the evening at Plataforma was a conversation between Cuban artist Jorge Pardo and American artist Pae White, both of whom have long-standing ties with José Noé Suro. Pardo’s immersive, labyrinthine installation of luminous ceramic walls and colorful lamps seamlessly intertwined with White’s newest series of sculptures, forming an engaging, multisensory environment that explored how visual curiosity and emotional impulses shape perception. On the ground floor, Mexican artist María Sosa staged a powerful multimedia constellation of Indigenous spiritual symbols, ancestral culture, and their persistence in contemporary life. Imagined as a sacred garden, her dense yet fluid arrangement of textile and ceramic works sought to dismantle the lingering influence of colonialism and instead foster more sustainable ways of coexistence. The exhibition marked the fourth and final chapter of a year-long curatorial series led by Spanish curator Agustín Pérez Rubio, in which Plataforma invites an international curator to forge connections between Guadalajara’s art scene and global opportunities. Throughout the night, Suro reiterated how Guadalajara’s artistic landscape continues to expand year after year but, as he recently told Observer, “the beauty of Guadalajara is that it’s a city of artists.”
Saturday’s itinerary continued with the much-anticipated annual opening at MAZ Zapopan, helmed by powerhouse director Viviana Kuri, who has steadily expanded the museum’s reach by bringing major exhibitions of international contemporary artists while closely supporting the local scene. “For centuries, Guadalajara has been a special place for the arts and crafts, including literature, architecture, and painting,” Kuri told Observer. “Today, the contemporary art scene is growing every year with new spaces and proposals, attracting visitors from all over, and this is also making the local public more engaged.”
By noon, an eager crowd of locals and visitors had already gathered in the museum’s outdoor atrium, where Santiago Borja’s large-scale installation Constellation activated the space. The work transforms key structural anthropology diagrams by Claude Lévi-Strauss—mapping symbolic kinship relations—into mobile sculptures, offering a striking visual metaphor that suggests symbolic kinship can be stronger than biological ties. The installation acts as a living, dynamic catalyst for exploring how identity and social relationships continuously evolve and intertwine.
Inside the museum, a meticulously curated exhibition traced unexpected affinities between Spanish poet Federico García Lorca and Mexican contemporary artist Guillermo Kuitca, offering a layered dialogue that revealed new readings of their respective poetic languages across generations, geographies, and artistic disciplines. Continuing along similar conceptual lines, the other exhibition on view, “Fictions: Narrativity in Contemporary Art,” took over the upper galleries to examine the shifting sense of truth in an era of relentless digital misinformation and manipulated realities. Curated by Ferran Barenblit, the show expanded its investigation beyond literature into digital and A.I.-driven realms, presenting works by a diverse group of Mexican artists, including Ignasi Aballí, Isa Carrillo, Mariana Castillo Deball, Consonni, Gonzalo Elvira, Dora García, Verónica Gerber Bicecci, Andy Medina, Jorge Méndez Blake, Mabel Palacín, Alan Sierra, Irene Solà, Teresa Solar Abboud and Los Torreznos.
Meanwhile, MAZ Zapopan showed Belgium- and Mexico-based artist Francis Alÿs’ standout work from the 2023 Venice Biennale. His deeply moving video, which resonated with audiences in Venice, is now on view at EstaciónMAZ, the museum’s second venue, which opened last September. “In my opinion, this is one of the most important projects in the history of contemporary art,” Kuri told Observer. “Children’s Games by Francis Alÿs, this leading up to our recent openings from our Design program that includes design, fashion and architecture.”
Saturday’s lineup kicked off early with the concrete-based painterly deconstructions of Alejandro Almanza Pereda, whose studio was open to visitors alongside his gallery’s newly launched space, CURRO Anexo. The gallery was debuting in Mexico a new body of work by Brooklyn-based multimedia artist Allison Jae Evans, featuring a series of paintings, wall installations and sculptures.
Following the opening at MAZ, collectors were captivated by the visionary ceramics of Alejandro García Contreras, whose work fuses cultures and traditions across time and space. His latest pieces reflect an ongoing exploration of the universe’s origins—a continuous journey that encapsulates shared human experiences. García Contreras, who has been based in Guadalajara for years and found a key platform for his practice at Cerámica Suro, had just returned to the city after an extended residency in Paris with Art Explora, followed by another in New York with Pioneer Works.
“My relationship with Guadalajara was born several years ago,” Contreras told Observer. “The first time I came was in 2000 to produce my ceramics with Suro. I was fortunate to meet great friends during that first visit. Over the years, I became closer and closer to the Tapatía artistic community. We met at events and exhibitions, and our mutual friends continued to make the circle bigger.”
Originally from Chiapas, Alejandro García Contreras had previously lived in Mexico City, where, despite years of effort, he felt unable to grow as an artist. “I burned out and returned to Chiapas for a few years. I eventually moved to Guadalajara in 2020. It was a reboot for me in many ways,” he said. “But I must admit that what attracted me was that circle of friends, that community, a unique identity. That did not exist in Mexico City and even less so now. Maybe I wouldn’t have made that decision if it hadn’t been for that incredible community. I feel extremely grateful for welcoming and integrating me into their ranks. Being back here is wonderful. Experiencing how these artists, cultural agents and collectors managed to put Guadalajara on the international map is very special.”
The final stop was the studio of conceptual artist Jorge Méndez Blake, whose multimedia practice explores the intersection of literature, art and architecture—disciplines humans use to define their existential and operational space, imposing structure and direction upon it. Deconstructed pages of famous books transform into constellations of meaning, as Méndez Blake distills single characters, isolating them in a careful, rational order. Across his sprawling studio, various workstations held a series of hyperrealistic paintings, which, through trompe-l’œil techniques, similarly yet more directly challenge the viewer’s perception of reality. These paintings also serve as tools for conceptualizing and developing his other projects, reinforcing the artist’s fascination with language, illusion and the ways in which knowledge is both constructed and dismantled.
“Guadalajara is a city of artists,” confirms Blake as we discuss the energies in town also this year “the artist’s run spaces and independent initiatives since the late 90’s have constantly injected renovated energy into this traditional state.”
A final carajillo at the studio, and visitors were ready for the weekend’s most anticipated event—the Comida at the visionary ceramics factory and renowned artist residency Cerámica Suro. What followed was a marathon of flavors, with pop-ups from the best local restaurants offering a spread of traditional dishes, a wide variety of tequila-based drinks and masterfully crafted ceramic art. In the factory, long communal tables welcomed artists, collectors, curators and friends in what felt less like a formal gathering and more like an extended wedding celebration—one that embodied Guadalajara’s unmatched community spirit.
For those who endured, ART WKND GDL continued into the night with more gallery openings, including at contemporary art spaces such as Armada and Palma Galería, one of the city’s newer additions. A few final events were planned for Sunday—museum talks, open studios and other gatherings that reaffirmed the energy and momentum of this ever-evolving scene—before visitors had to catch their flights, many heading straight for Mexico City Art Week.