Mexican contemporary art galleries to take over Art Basel

On March 26 , Art Basel announced it has postponed its 2020 edition until September due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The art fair will now take place on September 15 through 20 .

is one of the most important art fairs in the calendar of the industry, and this edition, due to its 50th anniversary , the celebration will be grand: from June 18 to 31 , 288 galleries from 35 countries will join in.

Of course, Mexican galleries are representing the country among the vast list of participants.

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Mónica Manzutto

and José Kuri founded this space in 1999 . With support from artist Gabriel Orozco , they found a set space and define their objective of providing a space for contemporary art in Mexico, where back then support was hard to obtain.

Now, the gallery has presence at an international scale, with presence in New York , and represents 33 artists among which are Abraham Cruzvillegas , Dr. Lakra , and Sofía Taboas .

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This gallery located in the Roma neighborhood in Mexico City was founded in 1983 by Patricia Ortiz Monasterio and Jaime Riestra . This space represents contemporary and emerging artists among which are José Dávila , and Gabriel Rico .

Last February, OMR was in the spotlight after the art critic Avelina Lésper shattered a USD $20k art piece by artist Gabriel Rico at the Zona Maco contemporary art fair in Mexico City. Lésper apologized for the accident and OMR said it would not proceed against her although they stressed the role of contemporary art in society as a mirror of society and as a platform for dialogue.

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“Regardless of the individual appreciation of a work of art, we welcome well-informed and constructive critique, and with it, the opportunity to openly discuss what moves us, what represents us, and what gives meaning to our values,” asserted OMR .

Galleries based in Mexico will also be present in Art Basel : the Spanish Travesía Cuatro with spaces in Guadalajara and Mexico City and that works with the Mexicans Gonzalo Lebrija , Gabriel Rosas Alemán , and Jorge Méndez Blake . Likewise, the German Galerie Nordenhake , that is also in Mexico City and represents the Mexican artist Iñaki Bonillas .

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This edition of Art Basel includes 23 new galleries . The great number of galleries is also due to the cancellation of Art Basel Hong Kong because of the health emergency that affected the Asian continent.

Exhibitors were also invited to present their pieces in the new online spaces Art Basel created since the cancelation of its Hong Kong Edition.

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