2024
Para toda ocasión
Cosa Rapozo
There will be balloons. Don’t miss it!
This is a kind invitation to activate memory through shapes and figures. The figures I revisit possess a generic character, rooted in certain narratives of a collective imagination, and by bringing them together in this space, they emit a significant charge of psycho-affectivity.
This invitation is also an incitement to question the degree of belonging and implication we assume when adopting these figures as part of our own messages. In doing so, we challenge the different levels of representation they acquire as they begin to occupy our spaces.
In everyday Mexican contexts, cut-out Styrofoam has played a functional role in what I consider ephemeral architecture. This ephemeral architecture—anchored in figures with recurring themes—becomes a protagonist in a society that celebrates; it defines social showcases for archetypal fables and rituals that, residually, insist on persisting through repetition, through papel picado, through centerpieces, through metallic glimmers.
For Every Occasion is a body of work focused on replicating the appearance of Styrofoam through plaster casting. It is my intention to preserve figures that originally belonged to the world of party decoration, now reimagined as part of a statuary homage to the narrative of celebration.
We meet from October 3 of this year through January 17, 2025, in the fireplace room at Ache Galería.
Cosa Rapozo
Curated by Selma Guisande
FANTASÍAS PARA
INSURGENCIAS POSIBLES
Areli Escobedo “Kun” / Ivette Gasca / Yoliztlli Sánchez
There are many ways to burn down the house and shake the foundations of the patriarchy. The micro-poetics that emerge from the diverse perspectives of the three artists in this exhibition invite us to revisit the “fantastical” world of childhood—surrounded by color, but also by ghosts; to perceive the light and darkness of mythological beings, the memory of touch, and, through embroidery, to question constructs of masculinity. Parallel worlds are woven together like a kaleidoscope of the unconscious and collective memory.
Yoliztlli Sánchez’s work unfolds a series of recurring elements—such as the cat-animal, the house, childhood self-portraits, mundane objects, or the paranormal—reappearing in different contexts. These motifs serve as ways to rethink her identity and the way she sees herself—past and present. Through color, confetti, and stickers, she creates studies to understand why she is the way she is.
Ivette Gasca’s selection of sculptures is crafted from personal and archetypal mythologies, as well as dreamlike references. In her works, flowers, animals, the female figure, and the duality between life and death, between what is born and reborn, intertwine to reflect her lived experience, the challenges she has faced, and the struggles she has overcome.
For Areli Escobedo "Kun", hegemonic masculinity arises from a set of conditionings shaped by a narrow and limiting gender structure. Her series Embroidering Restrictions presents various testimonies that expose how this patriarchal education is transmitted through situations and language. It highlights how men have chosen not to participate in certain activities out of fear of external judgment.
Through different rhythms, forms, and imaginaries, the works of these artists come together in a dialogue that reminds us: to mend the social fabric and respond to collective urgencies, we also need play, words, color, metaphor, and intuition.
COLOCAO
Adriana Palafox "Anaryyyy" Daniel Morales "Sadorko" Elías Leura "El trovador" Francisco Gallardo "Frank" Madeleine Betancourt “sam,” Yolanda Arvizu
COLOCAO is a word born from the street, used to describe a moment of euphoria or the act of placing something or someone. Reinterpreted by Casa Canera, it means to “get high” on the addiction to creating art. The exhibition is the result of the pedagogical project of the same name, which seeks to generate artistic training processes from an independent framework—demonstrating that these kinds of spaces can stand alongside formal institutions. Through an open call, eight emerging artists—preferably from peripheral areas—were selected with the goal of deepening their practice in the visual arts and exposing them to contemporary approaches through workshops, talks, and labs supported by fifteen artists, educators, and cultural managers. COLOCAO was funded by the Patronato de Arte Contemporáneo (PAC) and spanned ten months, promoting the exchange of knowledge and the creation of a community of artists that has, in turn, led to the formation of new collectives.
On the other hand, within the curatorial proposal, a parallel exhibition is presented featuring the work of five artists who accompanied the grantees throughout their creative process. PONER LA CASA (Setting the House) proposes a horizontal and transgenerational dialogue with “lxs colocao,” making visible the embodied support of “lxs canera” by offering their space, management skills, and knowledge to spark new imaginaries, provoke processes, and accompany the new generation of artists. This process would not have been possible without the collaborative energy and camaraderie generated thanks to the support of Melisa Salazar Carrión, Monserrat Escudero, Eduardo Castillo, Gema López, Alex Pérez, Lucila Zavala Tinajero, Yoliz Yorke, Van Galle, Rodrigo Meneses, Mariana Haro Goñi, Areli Becerril Escobedo, Ivette Gasca, and Rafa Delik Padilla—who all went above and beyond in offering mentorship, workshops, talks, and production support.
Text written collaboratively by Josué Martínez “Homie” and Alan Castro, Casa Canera, and Selma Guisande, curatorship.
PONER LA CASA
Alan Castro Eduardo Castillo Josué "Homie" Mtz
Melissa Salazar Monse "Momo" Escudero
COLOCAO is a word born from the street, used to describe a moment of ecstasy and the act of placing something—or someone. Reimagined by Casa Canera, it means to get high on the addiction to creating art. The exhibition is the result of the pedagogical project of the same name, which seeks to generate artistic training processes from an independent space, proving that alternative platforms can stand on equal footing with institutions. Through an open call, eight emerging artists—preferably from peripheral areas—were selected with the aim of deepening their exploration in the field of visual arts and engaging with contemporary practices through workshops, talks, and labs supported by fifteen artists, educators, and cultural managers.
COLOCAO was funded by the Patronato de Arte Contemporáneo (PAC) and spanned 10 months, encouraging the exchange of knowledge and the creation of an artist community that has, in turn, given rise to the formation of new collectives.
As part of the curatorial approach, a parallel exhibition is also proposed, showcasing the work of five artists who accompanied the grantees throughout their creative process. PONER LA CASA (Setting the House) opens up a horizontal, transgenerational dialogue with lxs colocao, and makes visible the embodied support of lxs canera—offering their space, management skills, and knowledge to spark imaginaries, provoke processes, and walk alongside new generations. This entire process wouldn’t have been possible without the collaborative vibe and collective joy sparked by the support of Melisa Salazar Carrión, Monserrat Escudero, Eduardo Castillo, Gema López, Alex Pérez, Lucila Zavala Tinajero, Yoliz Yorke, Van Galle, Rodrigo Meneses, Mariana Haro Goñi, Areli Becerril Escobedo, Ivette Gasca, and Rafa Delik Padilla, who gave it their all through mentorship, workshops, talks, and production.
Text written collectively by Josué Martínez “Homie” and Alan Castro (Casa Canera), and Selma Guisande, curatorship.
Confabular cotidianos
Vanessa Freitag
Confabular Cotidianos presents domestic landscapes as a playful and intuitive way of rethinking the everyday. When conceiving the exhibition, we imagined the experience of walking through a home—thus, the show is structured around three main spaces: the garden, the corporeal, and the dreamlike. Conceived as a heterotopic space, the garden brings together sculptures that engage in dialogue through materials and the stories they might contain. Like a harvest, clothing, threads, fabrics, crafts, and keepsakes—carefully gathered by the artist from flea markets, street stalls, and garage sales—are woven into “exotic plants,” relational sculptures that might also resemble small nests. The vacuoles, on the other hand, are forms built to evoke cells—sculptures that stretch and flatten, holding within them woven or found elements, as well as small objects that speak of care, nourishment, warmth, and the space of the intimate and private. Some of these pieces may appear subtle in character, but they also question gender roles and, with quiet intensity, position us in the realm of voyeurism. In how many ways do we experience the body?
Like in a dream, the dreamlike sculptures are formed through the accumulation and displacement of objects. Their scale or position within each piece encourages connection to the imaginary. Vessels, teapots, crafts, textiles, and other domestic or bodily objects that once belonged to others become guardians of stories and memories—sparks for fables.
This exhibition arises from a desire to translate these temporalities and narratives into sculptural arrangements. The process of weaving, gathering, nesting, entangling, and holding through fabric helps give shape to invented narratives—without a fixed preamble.
Vanessa Freitag
Curated by Selma Guisande
DE SOL A SOL
Ana Gómez, Ana Quiroz, Dolores Hidalgo, Elisa Urías, Federico Jordán,Juan Pablo Meneses,
marco lópez valenzuela, Mauricio Palos, Rebecca Uliczka,Rodrigo Meneses, Selma Guisande y Taller 30
This group exhibition brings together the work of the artists who have collaborated with the gallery to date.It is our way of celebrating three years since our founding, and joyfully offers a glimpse into the path we’ve been building collaboratively with artists, collectors, collaborators, and diverse audiences. Aligned with the curatorial framework that guides the gallery, the exhibition features artists who inhabit and express themselves from the Bajío region—reflecting on its landscapes, its territories, the body, and various narratives that, at times, also challenge us to confront the issues affecting our surroundings.
De sol a sol (From Sun to Sun) offers a look at both individual practices and collective initiatives, fostering connections and dialogues within the contemporary art of the region. The works bear the unique imprint of each artist while also reflecting shared influences and recurring themes that have shaped the gallery’s curatorial development.
Mariana Haro, Director, Ache Galería
Selma Guisande, Curator
Karla Flores, Management and Design
BAJO ESTE SOL TERRIBLE
marco lópez valenzuela
Morelia 1994
Under This Terrible Sun
The land burns…
This exhibition is a poetic reflection on the transformation of the landscape. At its core, it explores how the violence brought about by organized crime has profoundly impacted nearly every aspect of daily life—from commerce to agriculture.
At the same time, the work invites us to consider broader issues, such as the unchecked cultivation of avocados and the implementation of industrial, large-scale agricultural systems that have triggered a climate crisis in Michoacán. Where rain once fell most of the year and the air was cool, the landscape around the city of Morelia is now nearly desert-like. Gradually, cacti and yuccas have begun to take over, while pine and oak forests become increasingly scarce.Carefully orchestrated by the United States and neoliberal economic policies, the avocado phenomenon has become a form of neocolonialism—a clear example of interventionism that disrupts not only the landscape but also the social fabric of the countries whose resources are desired.
For this reason, some of the works in the exhibition are created from organic remnants sourced from conflict zones: cloths dyed with avocado pits, drawings made with mud or avocado pulp, or wood charcoal—exploring the possibilities the fruit offers as material.This body of work becomes an exploration of landscape as a genre, asking what is deemed worthy of being painted. Most of the pieces are studies—attempts to understand the world we inhabit, to turn our gaze toward the violence caused by organized crime and the so-called war on drugs. They depict narco-banners, burning forests, and melancholic desert scenes. A naïve approach, full of color and a certain sense of humor, is used to address such thorny subjects. All of this reaffirms the political power of painting landscapes.
Marco López Valenzuela
Curated by Selma Guisande
Mis Once Anillos Semipreciosos
Ana Quiroz
México 1966
My Eleven Semiprecious Rings
“In times of extinction,” in territories subdued by a human society obsessed with consumption and control, nature is replaced by the artificial.
The title of the exhibition is a phrase from Ben Lerner’s poem “Darkness Picks Up Our Empty Bottles,” and it perfectly encapsulates the sculptural series presented in My Eleven Semiprecious Rings. The curatorial vision encompasses two bodies of work: a selection of pieces produced since 2005, conceptually rooted in the paradoxes and dark complexities of the human species; and the most recent series, Furnished Landscapes, in which utilitarian objects are reconstructed to sarcastically comment on territories of nature subjected to abuse and control by an insatiable society. This condition has dramatically transformed the fields of San Miguel de Allende and other natural riches around the world. Ruthless land investment interests result in hundreds of “rootless assets”—an environment reshaped in favor of plastic and concrete territories.
Through a process of reconstruction and recovery, seemingly useless elements like shards of glass and thorns are assembled into untouchable objects—obsessively crafted, almost like jewelry—semiprecious entities. Transparency, glimmers, reflections, and forms that combine natural plant fragments in clear resin generate “in-between worlds” that attract, while simultaneously concealing more sinister places.
The old is brought into play through familiar objects from grandparents—those bearing traces of the past, silent witnesses that, in this context, resignify the desires of a complex society. These diatribes speak through materiality as an aesthetic prelude, but they also engage ecological, ethical, political, and social concerns—articulating a potential act of transformation and resistance.
Ana Quiroz
Curated by Selma Guisande
