Resisting the Present: Mexican Art Scene in the 2000s

The exhibition 'Resisting the Present' at the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris (March 9 – July 8, 2012) showcases 24 Mexican artists born after 1968, curated by Angeline Scherf and Angeles Alonso Espinosa. Originally planned for the 2010 Year of Mexico in France, the show was postponed but not cancelled, unlike most events. Scherf argues that the Mexican art scene developed outside Mexico from the 1990s to 2000s, but now local alternative spaces have professionalized. Artist Bayrol Jimenez (b. 1984, Oaxaca) notes that international exhibitions have come to Mexico, and cities like Oaxaca, Tijuana, Jalapa, Merida, and Puebla have become artistically rich. The exhibition emphasizes a 'global without local' perspective, referencing Serge Gruzinski. Works like Minerva Cuevas's 'Rio Bravo Crossing' address migration. Arturo Hernández-Alcázar's piece features kites weighted with stones, referencing the Mexican Revolution and contemporary 'no future' sentiment. The show includes filmmaker Carlos Reygadas and writer Guillermo Fadanelli. The curators sought to show what happened after Gabriel Orozco, whose first museum exhibition Scherf curated in 1998. The artists share social and political themes but reject being labeled 'engaged'. The exhibition was first held at the Museo Amparo in Puebla, Mexico.