VERANDA: Mexico City Art Hop
You may not know this about our founder, but Audra lived and worked in Mexico City for two years, and remains closely connected with the city’s thriving art and design scene.
Since last fall, she has been consulting with Veranda magazine, introducing and connecting editors to artists, designers, creatives, and tastemakers for the current issue devoted to Mexico — a sumptuous ode to the design and culture of this very special country. Below is the article that appears in the July/August issue featuring her top spots beyond the classics.
You’ll not miss with any of these wonderful hidden gems!
Pick up your copy of this exceptional issue on newsstands now.
My gratitude to Rachael Burrow, Steele Marcoux, and Tracey Minkin for this piece.
As seen in VERANDA, July/August 2024. Photograph by Annie Schlechter. INTERIOR BY SUMMER THORNTON.
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 mid-career artists, Kiewiet 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.
COURTESY LAGO ALGO
FOR THE CONTEMPORARY CULTURIST
LAGO ALGO“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.”
Luis Barragán-designed Casa Gilardi. ERIKA CARLOCK
FOR THE TIRELESS MODERNIST
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.
Casa Guillermo Tovar de Teresa. Agustin Garza
FOR THE DECORATIVE ARTS DEVOTEE
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.”
ALFONZO 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.”
In Print.
AUDRA KIEWIET DE JONGE IN FRONT OF A WORK BY ROSALIND TALLMADGE COMMISSIONED FOR THE OPUS ONE ROTUNDA. PHOTOGRAPH BY BORIS ZHARKOV.
Art/artefact is a nationally recognized art advisory and interior design practice founded by Audra Kiewiet de Jonge and known for placing a great collection at the heart of every interior.
Formally trained as a painter and an art historian, Audra’s modern sensibility is informed by her historical perspective—bringing art and objects into context and conversation with the way we live today.
Working with private and corporate clients nationally, our interiors are meticulously curated and expertly built to be high on artistry, but not on pretense.
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