Strange Currencies: Art & Action in Mexico City: 1990-2000

"Strange Art & Action in Mexico City, 1990-2000" explores the emergence of experimental, collective, and do-it-yourself artistic practices in Mexico City in the nineties, a decade defined by a catastrophic economic crisis, enormous social upheaval and poverty, widespread political corruption, a chronic rise in violence, and uncertainty due to the destabilizing effects of rapid globalization. During this fraught and formative decade, a new generation of artists was uniquely able to experiment and take artistic risks that resulted in the development of new forms and practices, profoundly transforming the city's cultural landscape. "Strange Currencies" brings together a group of twenty-eight artists who were living and working in Mexico City in the nineties and whose divergent practices and processes reflect the multiplicity of themes, approaches, and perspectives that took shape during this game-changing decade. The fully illustrated catalogue includes essays by exhibition curator Kaytie Johnson, and contributing authors Eduardo Abaroa, José Luis Paredes Pacho, Alexis Salas, and Walter Forsberg, Paulina Suárez-Hesketh and Eduardo Thomas. Artists Eduardo Abaroa, Francis Alÿs, Marco Arce, Gustavo Artigas, Iñaki Bonillas, Miguel Calderón, Abraham Cruzvillegas, Minerva Cuevas, Claudia Fernández, Thomas Glassford, Silvia Gruner, Daniel Guzmán, Jonathan Hernández, Gabriel Kuri, Teresa Margolles, Taniel Morales, Yoshua Okón, Fernando Ortega, Luis Felipe Ortega, Vicente Razo, Daniela Rossell, SEMEFO, Santiago Sierra, Melanie Smith, Sofía Táboas, Laureana Toledo, Pablo Vargas Lugo and Lorena Wolffer. Major support for "Strange Art & Action in Mexico City, 1990-2000" has been provided by The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage.