Yes, Casa Azul and Studio Diego Rivera are must-sees. But where to next? Art and interiors advisor Audra Kiewiet de Jonge shares her top galleries, museums, and studios of this sizzling design scene. As a former CDMX gallerist and founder of Art/artefact, which champions emerging and midcareer artists, de Jonge knows a thing or two about spotting great art.
Here, her picks for the best galleries and museums in Mexico City to bookmark for your next visit.
For the Contemporary Culturist
LagoAlgo’s chalk mural entrance hall and Museo Franz Mayer (inset)
LagoAlgo
“Foretelling today’s trend in food as art form, OMR gallery owner Cristobal Riestra has created a groundbreaking restaurant/exploratory art space in a modernist building in Chapultepec Park.”
kurimanzutto
“A powerhouse— one of the top contemporary art galleries in the city, with very significant exhibitions featuring Mexican artists. It’s a can’t-miss for any art tour.”
MASA
“Engaging the line between art and design, MASA presents aesthetically driven shows merging culture with art. It feels exciting and experimental to be in their space with its high Spanish ceilings and stucco walls.”
For the Tireless Modernist
Luis Barragán-designed Casa Gilardi
Casa Gilardi
“Architect Luis Barragán was a color theorist who did incredible things juxtaposing vibrant shades and geometric forms. That’s on full display in this mid-1970s house he designed for advertising executive Francisco Gilardi.” By appointment.
Olivia Foundation
“In a traditional Porfirian mansion reimagined by renowned Mexican architect Alberto Kalach, this new space’s inaugural exhibition, ‘Between Us,’ focuses on female abstraction and is a showstopper.” Reservations required.
Casa-Museo Pedro Ramírez Vázquez
“The home of Mexico’s prolific 20th-century architect is a masterpiece of wood-clad walls and cloistered rooms that invite contemplation at a residential scale with a distinctly Mexican identity.” By appointment only.
For the Decorative Arts Devotee
Casa Guillermo Tovar de Teresa
Museo Franz Mayer
“The personal collection of the scholar Franz Mayer is Latin America’s largest assemblage of decorative arts, housed in a 16th-century Spanish Colonial building—a decorator’s dream museum.”
Alfonso Marina
“The best-kept secret of Mexico’s top interior designers, Alfonso Marina’s pieces are hand-carved by Mexican artisans and exemplify the height of craft and elegance.”
Ago Projects
“The functional objéts d’art in this gallery featuring primarily Mexico-based artists and designers spark conversations on the intersections of art and design and traditional craft.”
Casa Guillermo Tovar de Teresa
“The late 19th-century home of the prominent historian, philanthropist, and scholar, this recently opened museum houses his collections in a mansion with marble floors, soaring ceilings, and French influence that reflects the Porfirian belle epoque style.”
This story originally appeared in the July/August 2024 issue of VERANDA.
