Museum of Modern Art
The museum has two floors, one each for pre- and post-war art of Mexican artists exclusively. Pre-war art, or "modern" Mexican art proper is very representational; nearly all pieces had human figures, either as a portrait or in a Surrealist landscape. For me this was interesting insomuch as I previously had little idea of what Mexican art was like besides Diego and Frida. However, they didn't match my own artistic tastes, and I assume they use the term "modern" to refer to the chronological time period of the works rather than the aesthetic movement they seem not to represent. The maze-like first floor housing these works was a tad confusing, especially given the absece of any map.The post-war second floor, however, was breathtaking. The building's floor plan dictated a similar layout as the first floor, but where walls and fluorescent light dominated the ground floor, here open space and sunlight gave clarity to the building's architecture. Contemporary Mexican art is much more abstract, psychological, and powerful than pre-war art, and some of the most chilling and beautiful pieces of art I have seen were found here.
In addition, the museum boasts an impressive outdoor sculpture garden. All in all, my tepid impression of the pre-war collection was eclipsed by the excellent post-war collection. I would definitely recommend this museum for anyone who likes 20th century art or is curious to discover what Mexican art is like.
Tamayo Museum of Contemporary Art
For $2 US, why not? This museum is much smaller than the Modern Art, but its layout is much more logical and its collection sleeker and more thoughtful. With limited exhibition space, Tamayo selects representative pieces to celebrate both the progression of 20th century art and recent works by artists of both Mexico and the rest of the world. The entire museum takes about 45 minutes to appreciate fully.Museum of Anthropology
This museum takes at least a full day to appreciate; I actually visited this museum the day before but returned to take pictures of the fantastic fountain in the courtyard. The Mexica (also known as the Aztec) exhibit is the most famous and rightly impressive, but we were all even more taken with the Mayan exhibit, which included outdoor temples and underground tombs. The museum is logically laid out according to geography, with ancient cultures on the ground floor and each region's contemporary tribes on the level directly above. The Anthropology Museum is a must see for any visitor to Mexico DF.Palacio de Bellas Artes
This beautiful and historical exhibition space houses a permanent collection of murals by Rivera and Siqueiros, among others, but the rest of the museum was dedicated to a special exhibit commemorating the 100th birthday of Frida Kahlo, easily one of Mexico's most celebrated artists (along with Diego Rivera). I find Kahlo's art a lot more personal and powerful than Rivera's, but I have never been a huge fan of political art to begin with. Bellas Artes was a bit more crowded than I would have liked, and much less thought was put into the selection of individual works. At times, it felt that the Mexican government had aggregated all these Frida works in one place just because it could. If you ever find yourself in DF, you should certainly walk around the lobby of Bellas Artes, but given the surprisingly small permanent collection, I would make sure you are interested in the special exhibit before paying to enter the upper galleries.This weekend, I returned to the US for a couple of weddings. There are enough stories here to warrant a separate post, which I will write some other day. Chan, out.
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