Postcard from Queretaro, Mexico: MACQ confronts contemporary topics

Above: “Waiting Has a Price,” Rodney Zelenka, 2021

Visiting this past summer, I found myself awestruck by the contemporary political and social issues tackled by exhibitions at the Museum of Contemporary Art of Querétaro (MACQ). Although housed within the walls of an ancient convent, the museum’s international art is far from the conservative colonial paintings long associated with the city.

“Incomprehensible Realities,” a show by Panamanian artist Rodney Zelenka (1953-), delivered the universal plight of migrants to the forefront with the powerful precision of a karate chop, to be expected from a painter with a Black Belt. Many of his surrealistic works featured suitcases, shoes, hats – things that get left behind – executed in bright primary colors normally associated with happiness set against a backdrop of gray splotches resembling abstract gravestones.

Above: Works by Rodney Zelenka included in the show, “Incomprehensible Realities”

Initiating the flow of ideas, finally translating them into a work, is like carrying a power that can be fixed concretely in a graphic or in an idea. The scissors, capable of cutting and creating, become my essential tool…. I have unique scissors, a unique tailor’s temptation, and by having them in my hands, I feel that I can mold ideas as if they were pieces of meat…. Censorship is presented as the most brutal, pure, and mediocre way to put an end to an idea…. That is why the idea persists.”

Eko de la Garza, interviewed by Gabriela Gorab for El Economista, January 23, 2024

“Eko and Trotsky: Ephemeral Mural,” spotlighting Eko de la Garza (1958-), filled a gallery with floor-to-ceiling red and black revolutionary graphics conveying the brutal assassination of Leon Trotsky (1879-1940).

Above: Works from “Eko and Trotsky: Ephermeral Mural” by Eko de la Garza

Installations included in “Chemsex” by Valerio Gamez (1975-) question how pharmaceuticals affect our health. Drugs’ appeal and addictive qualities undermine our capabilities to determine our own fates.

Above: “Chemsex” installations by Valerio Gamez

Above: Art in MACQ’s courtyard

‘A Woman’s Paradise is under Her Husband’s Foot’ is a performance that dares to criticize the most aberrant practices of Islamic fundamentalism.”

MACQ curator notes

Above: Stillshots grabbed from “A Woman’s Paradise is under Her Husband’s Foot,” video performance piece by Omar Jerez (1980-), 2014

Above: “Emotional Body: Flowing Empathies,” Mercedes Gertz (1965-), textile works

Antonio Salazar died in 2016, but his thoughts still sound strong and solid. They are a testament to the courage of all the gays, queers and lesbians who, with works like ‘La Manuela,’ gain historical importance, and an emotionial recognition for resisting and being an important part of the freedoms achieved today.”

Raul Sangrador, Director of MACQ, curator notes

Querétaro is at an extraordinary point of social, economic and population development, and this must be accompanied by a series of artistic and cultural manifestations, with their corresponding record of the events that occur and how art reacts to all these phenomena.”

Raul Sangrador, El Universal Queretaro, January 17, 2023