Monterrey FEMSA Biennial

Founded in 1992 in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico
Contact : Juan Carlos Almaguer Meléndez/bienalmonterreyfemsa@femsa.com.mx

Bienal Monterrey FEMSA, or Monterrey FEMSA Biennale, is an art contest that was instituted in 1992 with the purpose of recognizing, strengthening, encouraging and promoting the artistic creation in Mexico. Through the years, it has been recognized as one of the most important visual arts events in Mexico, gaining also international prestige. This Biennale calls for all Mexican visual artists and foreigners with at least a two-year residency in the country. The artworks can be registered in two categories: two-dimensional and three-dimensional formats.

Therefore, artists can participate with paintings, sculptures, installations, photography, video, or drawings, along with other disciplines. In the nine editions that have taken place so far, more than 7,000 artists and 17,000 artworks have been registered, and the exhibitions have been seen by more than 400,000 people nationally.

The Monterrey FEMSA Biennale awards two artists in each format (two-dimensional and three-dimensional) with the FEMSA’s Great Acquisition Prize, or Gran Premio de Adquisición FEMSA. The Judges also award two artists with an honorable mention, or Mención Honorífica, and a Mention by State, awarded to the most representative artists of each State of Mexico (as long as at least 3 artists from the State were selected). There is also an acquisition fund for selected artworks, Fondo de Adquisición de Obras Seleccionadas. All the artworks that obtain the great prize and the ones that are acquired become a part of the FEMSA Art Collection, internationally recognized as one of the most important modern and contemporary Latin-American art collections.

Current edition
2012 – X Bienal Monterrey FEMSA. Opening on June 14th of 2012

Previous editions of the biennale
–1992 I Bienal Monterrey FEMSA, Gran Premio de Adquisición (Great Acquisition Prize): Laura Quintanilla, in the Painting category; Rosa María Robles, in the Sculpture category.
-1994  II Bienal Monterrey FEMSA (1994), Gran Premio de Adquisición (Great Acquisition Prize): Estrella Carmona, in the Painting category. Gerardo Azcúnaga, in the Sculpture category. Betsabeé Romero, in the Installation category.
-1996 III Bienal Monterrey FEMSA, Gran Premio de Adquisición (Great Acquisition Prize): Francisco Larios, in the Painting category. María José de la Macorra, in the Sculpture category. Claudia Fernández, in the Installation category.
-1998 IV Bienal Monterrey FEMSA (1998), Gran Premio de Adquisición (Great Acquisition Prize): Trini (Katrien M. Vangheluwe), in the Painting category. Miriam Medrez, in the Sculpture category. Grupo SEMEFO (Teresa Margolles, Arturo Angulo, Carlos López), in the Installation category.
-2001 V Bienal Monterrey FEMSA (2001), Gran Premio de Adquisición (Great Acquisition Prize): Yolanda Mora Pérez-Tejada, in the Painting category. Gerardo Azcúnaga, in the Sculpture category. Sandra Cabriada, in the Installation category.
-2003 VI Bienal Monterrey FEMSA (2003), Gran Premio de Adquisición (Great Acquisition Prize): Fernanda Brunet, in the Painting category. Diego Toledo Crow, in the Sculpture category. Rubén Gutiérrez Garza, in the Installation category.
-2005 VII Bienal Monterrey FEMSA (2005), Gran Premio de Adquisición (Great Acquisition Prize): Gabriel de la Mora, in the two-dimensional format. Mauricio Eduardo Gattás, in the three-dimensional format.
-2007 VIII Bienal Monterrey FEMSA (2007), Gran Premio de Adquisición (Great Acquisition Prize): Adela Goldbard, in the two-dimensional format. Alejandro López Saldaña in the three-dimensional format.
-2009 IX Bienal Monterrey FEMSA (2009), Gran Premio de Adquisición (Great Acquisition Prize): Oscar Augusto Farfán González, in the two-dimensional format. José Lazcarro Toquero, in the three-dimensional format.