Resisting the Present: Mexico 2000 / 2012

9 March – 8 July 2012
Musée d’Art moderne de la Ville de Paris
France

Exhibition Curators
Angeline Scherf
Angeles Alonso Espinosa

The Musée d’Art moderne de la Ville de Paris presents an exhibition at ARC entitled “Resisting the Present, Mexico 2000/2012”, consisting of some fifty works (installations, videos, drawings, photos and films). It brings together a generation heavily committed to the social and political development of its country. These twenty-four artists, most of whom were born after 1975, have been active in Mexico since the 2000s.

The arts scene in Mexico has been dynamic at an international level for over twenty years, affected by the extraordinary political and economic developments in the country over this period and by the development
of its cultural institutions (MUAC – Museo Universitario de Arte Contemporáneo, Museo Tamayo, Fundación Jumex, galleries, collectors, alternative venues, etc.). This dynamism was boosted by the influence of the 90s generation, which revolutionised people’s image of Mexican art and made it one of the key alternative trends of the decade 1990-2000.The artists presented in this exhibition are the heirs of this generation. They draw inspiration from it, whilst at the same time keeping their distance. Most of them have been active since the 2000s and have to deal with a different historical context, which is more sombre than that of their elders. The revolution caused by economic (North American Free Trade Agreement in 1994) and technological globalisation, hopes for the advent of civil democracy followed by profound disillusion and the
mounting social tensions brought about by corruption and violence have created an intense climate.

The artists brought together in this exhibition come from different backgrounds (visual arts, cinema, documentary, etc.). They use differing strategies, which may take the form of poetic activism, the diversion of national problems (drugs war, criminality, corruption, identity, immigration and borders). Each one expresses more or less explicitly the awareness of an economic model in crisis and the climate of concern currently experienced by societies undergoing the challenges of globalisation.

The exhibition was presented at the Amparo Museum in Puebla (Mexico) until 15 January 2012 and will be at the Musée d’Art moderne de la Ville de Paris from 9 March 2012. It is the result of shared research between these two museums. “Resisting the Present. Mexico 2000/2012” catalogue: four essays by Angeline Scherf and Angeles Alonso Espinosa, Serge Gruzinski, Magalí Arriola, Guillermo Fadanelli, an interview between Alejandro Jodorowsky and Bayrol Jiménez, a chronology by Michel Blanscubé and detailed notes on each artist presented. Editions Paris Musées, 360 pages, 30 Euros.

Practical Information
Musée d’Art moderne de la Ville de Paris
11 avenue du Président Wilson
75116 Paris
Tel. 01 53 67 40 00
www.mam.paris.fr
Open Tuesday to Sunday
From 10am to 6pm
Thursday evenings until 10pm

Tickets
Full price: 6€
Reduced price: 4,5€ (over 60, teachers,
unemployed, large families)
Half price: 3€ (young people aged 14-26 years + people on minimum wage)
Free for under 14