We returned this week from Mexico City’s Zona Maco, which had an incredible amount of programing – including daily business brunches, gallery openings, artist panels, and of course, many parties and dinners with an abundant amount of tequila shots! Zona Maco is Mexico’s largest fair and is considered to be Latin America’s most important. It is known for annually taking over all of Mexico City for the week, with galleries, museums, foundations, and other related industries hosting countless events for the fair. This year featured 95 galleries from around the world as well as, for the second year, a section devoted soley to design with 13 galleries and international brands.
The day before the fair’s official opening, Zona Maco exhibitor and Paddle8 member, OMR Gallery, offered three exhibitions at their Mexico City space, including Rafael Lozano Hemmer’s show X is the new Y, which received lots of critical acclaim.
Some of the strongest booths at Zona Maco came from Labor, Kurimanzutto, OMR, Proyectos Monclova, Lisson Gallery, Max Wigram, and Galleria Continua.
Of the many works we saw at Zona Maco, we especially liked Máximo González’s Flujo-fisión (detalle), which was installed in Travesia Cuatro’s booth, and was made out of hundreds of out-of-circulation cut bills on top of clothespins, measuring 4 by 3 meters.
Another fantastic highlight was Emilio Chapela’s project Biblioteca at Henrique Faria’s booth, which was a large “library” where realistically rendered books were made out of solid wood.
Argentine David Lamelas’ project Time as Activity from Mexico City gallery Jan Mot, was an incredible installation of two white walls that passed unnoticed by many of the fair’s visitors due to the minimalist aesthetic of the artwork.
Some of the staples of the Zona Maco experience are the 3-6 parties and events that happen after the fair closes – hosted by some of Mexico’s biggest and most important galleries, foundations, and magazines. The most prominent annual party is hosted by the JUMEX foundation for Zona Maco’s exhibitors and their collectors. The best party to meet the broadest cross-section of Zona Maco attendees was hosted by Fifi Projects with Celeste – where champagne flowed till 4am. And if those weren’t enough, there was another great event at Mexico City’s prominent club M.N. Roy by Kurimanzutto, where the dance floor stayed full until 7am and beyond.
Be sure to view Zona Maco on Paddle8 before it closes this Sunday, April 29.