A third exhibition space will be added to the portfolio of closely regarded dealer Mariane Ibrahim, whose namesake gallery has facilities in Chicago and Paris. The gallery will open in Mexico City in February in conjunction with Zona Maco, the nation’s most significant art festival.
Ibrahim told ARTnews in an email interview that “we are heading to where the future is, not where the present moment is.” Prior to any market consideration, “Mexico City is, for us, the future of the space and a place we have had a strong connection with.”
The roughly 10,000 square foot, two-level space will be situated near San Rafael and Roma at Ro Pánuco 36 Col. Renacimiento, in a 19th-century structure in the city’s Cuauhtémoc neighborhood. Surprisingly, the new location’s space shares architectural similarities with the one in Paris because it was designed in that city’s enduring Hausmann style. “A hybrid, non-conventional space with a fractured floor plan, enabling a unique visitor experience,” she called the Mexico City gallery in her description. “Instead of a standard white cube venue, we are happy to stage concerts in a building with charm, character, and history.”
The opening exhibition will feature a solo display by Afro-Latina artist Clotilde Jiménez, currently based in Mexico City.
Ibrahim, who started her gallery for the first time in Seattle ten years ago, moved it to Chicago in 2019 and inaugurated it in Paris two years later. On a larger scale, this decision is significant because it makes her one of the first significant international dealers to extend to Mexico City.
“Become a part of the vibrant art culture that already exists and help shape it. The capital has a significant impact on our program, and we also hope to have an impact on the Mexican art scene,” she continued.
Ibrahim stated that she is thrilled about giving the artists she presently represents—including Amoako Boafo, Peter Uka, Ayana V. Jackson, and Carmen Neely—more chances to exhibit their work in a new setting with the company’s move to Mexico City. This will be the first time many of her artists, who were involved in the decision to expand to Mexico, have their work shown there.
“Mexico will provide continuity and reinforcement for our program. However, we wish to advance and are still growing,” she remarked. “We want to keep pushing the envelope, and we think Mexico City will be open to our program given its history. Mexico is a country where cultures and populations collide. It is at the meeting point of numerous still-existing cultures of African, European, and indigenous descent due to its location between two seas and its proximity to the Americas, the Caribbean, and South America.”