Masked: Changing Identities
01.25.13-05.25.13

Masked: Changing Identities showcases Mexican dance and popular masks from the Mexic-Arte Museum permanent collection. Each selected mask’s vibrant colors and designs reflect Mexican traditions of indigenous craftsmanship, mythic narratives, and dance rituals. Masked deconstructs the concept of the “mask” as transformative tool for disguise, performance, and entertainment in Mexican visual culture.The selected folkloric masks from Western Mexico including the states of Guerrero and Michoacan, range from authentic wood, leather and metal masks used ceremonially, sold commercially, and created as limited edition art objects.

Unmasked: Lucha Libre
01.25.13-05.25.13

In the Mexic-Arte Museum’s annex gallery, Unmasked: Lucha Libre presents examples of the masked tradition of Mexican wrestling sport and its infusion in popular culture and contemporary art. Unmasked: Lucha Libre showcases Mexican wrestling masks, vintage Mexican Cinema posters and movies, and contemporary Latino prints and video documentaries.

Austin’s Mexico–A Forgotten Neighborhood
Exhibit runs until 3.10.13

Austin’s “Mexico”: A Forgotten Downtown Neighborhood, showcases the culturally significant Mexican American community in downtown Austin through the Austin History Center's Photograph Collection. Presented by the Austin History Center & the Mexic-Arte Museum

Community Altars

As part of the Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) holiday and celebration (November 1–2), practitioners create ornate altars that typically consist of cempasuchitl (marigolds), foodstuffs, and memorabilia commemorating a deceased individual. Community Altars represents the fluidity of this practice and unveils dedicatory altars by Austin community members to not only past friends and family but also cultural influencers, community leaders, unknown victims of border violence, and personal role models.

Elements of Death

In honor of the Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) holiday, Elements of Death presents contemporary, multimedia artworks reflecting on death and the emotional experiences of memory, nostalgia, pain, and loss.

Serie Print Project XIX

As the official archive of the Serie Print Collection, the Mexic-Arte Museum annually exhibits the newest serigraph prints from the Serie Project. Each year, the Serie Project selects 10 to 18 artists through a juror system and invites them to participate in its artist-in-residence program.

Young Latino Artists Exhibition 17: Grafficanos

The seventeenth edition of the Young Latino Artists Exhibition, Grafficanos, will feature selections curated by visual artist James Huizar. Selected pieces present Latino artwork influenced by the graffiti art genre and focus on the integration of popular culture between the United States and Mexico.

Kevin Muñoz: Changarrito

Changarrito is a contemporary artistic trend rooted in Mexico’s ancient market tradition. This mobile art cart phenomenon is the brain child of artist Máximo González; his interest in “informal commerce” evolved into the creation of an alternative to the formal gallery space. Changarrito carts circulate throughout the world, each with the objective of promoting original artwork to the public. Kevin Muñoz is an artist and designer who resides in East Austin.

Miguel Aragón: Fractured Memories, Assembled Trauma

Mexic-Arte Museum presents new works by Miguel Aragón. Originally from Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, Aragón is an MFA graduate student at The University of Texas at Austin specializing in printmaking. Through a conceptual framework of trauma and reduction, Aragón’s current series chronicles the ongoing drug-related violence in Mexico.

Arturo García Bustos: La imagen del México postrevolucionario

Mexic–Arte Museum presents the revolutionary artworks of master printmaker, Arturo García Bustos. The selected prints unveil decades of carefully crafted social commentary chronicling the political struggles within Mexico and abroad.

Death to Dollars

Death to Dollars addresses the commercialization of the Day of the Dead—a holiday traditionally associated with Mexican folklore, pre-Columbian spirituality, and Catholicism. This exhibit looks to Day of the Dead iconography as it has been recalibrated to suit commercial markets and examines how the commoditization of Mexican and Mexican American heritage is reshaping this emblematic holiday.

Mix ‘n’ Mash

Mix ‘n’ Mash is an annual exhibition and art sale featuring local and statewide artists. Each artist receives one blank 12” by 12” Gessobord, generously donated by Ampersand. Artists create original pieces that vary in media and content. These artistic contributions are available for purchase and all proceeds will benefit Mexic-Arte Museum’s exhibitions and educational programming. Click Here to purchase tickets.

Totally Cool Totally Art

This exhibit is held annually to celebrate and encourage artistic production among Austin’s teen community. Mexic-Arte Museum has partnered with the City of Austin to bring artwork created by teens in after-school workshops into Mexic-Arte’s gallery space. Exhibited artists produce high-quality work in media such as photography, illustration, mixed media and video.

31K Portraits for Peace

31K’s large-scale, vivid photographs portray artist Diego Huerta’s vision of the breadth of lives lost and the hope for peace that still remains in Mexico. The ironic part of this photographic journey is that while each sitter represents a drug-related death, the persons depicted in each photo emit an overwhelming positivity. The images do not capture a solemn, somber nation mourning its tragedies but instead a people that evoke resiliency and triumph. Follow Diego Huerta’s 31K Project on the official website www.31kproject.com and on facebook.com/retratosporlapaz.