The morning started with a walking tour with Titan, and he was excellent—personable, knowledgeable, and quite fashion forward. He had a caballero leather daddy vibe going on. We wound through the historic center, eventually arriving at Hospicio Cabañas.
I didn’t know about José Clemente Orozco before planning this trip, but his “Man of Fire” mural appears as the top result when searching for what Guadalajara is known for. This mural is an experience that photographs can barely capture. The scale of the murals humbles anyone who views them. Naturally, it brings to mind Diego Rivera’s murals, since Orozco is a contemporary and one of the Tres Grandes (along with Siqueiros as the third).
The murals are quite intense—writhing figures, mechanized animals, and faceless masses. It’s a startling work that also really does leave you lost in it pretty quickly.
For lunch we headed to Mercado San Juan de Dios. The market is sprawling and chaotic—vendors hustling you for a deal, the smell of food and leather goods. We found Los de Ollita, a small stall serving tacos. Most of its seats were full and every staff person was a woman in a purple apron, which made us like its vibe. I ordered 3 tacos: chicharrón guisado, pollo mole, and frijoles. The chicharrón guisado taco was tasty but really soft. Its lack of texture almost defined it.
The afternoon we went on an art tour with Alexandra Duncan. She runs art tours through Guadalajara’s contemporary galleries. We met at four and spent the next three hours hitting five different spaces. Guadalajara has a serious art scene and, dear reader, if you want to experience great and accessible art, head to GDL today.
The first gallery was Casa Dos Guayabos. The space itself is intimate, residential-feeling. We saw work by Oliver Casillas, Dans GG, Adnan Galva, Peruzzi, Monoleaks, and Alias La Felix. Sam loved a piece of a 2 headed woman, but it was not for sale.
Unknown title and artist
Not for sale
Taller Industria Grafica is a printmaking studio. Manuel Guardado gave us the tour. An exhibition is opening on December 12, so it was in a bit of disarray. The artists being displayed were Guardame, Art Girbau, Carlos Torres, M. Rodriguez, and Oscar Basulto. Basulto’s “Conexións” really grabbed Samer and I—abstract but with an underlying structure that felt deliberate, mathematical almost.
Navegantes Studio continued the thread. Juan Salmon, Lemon Pop, and Jorge Moran all showing. The energy in these spaces is different from what you find in traditional galleries. There’s a workshop quality, a sense that the making happens here and the showing is almost secondary. Lemon Pop was trained as an architect and it really felt like that showed through in his art. He was working on a fantastic piece of his mother’s stairwell. Juan Salmon started as a graffiti artist, but he works in a huge number of mediums. Watercolors, ceramics, acrylics, spray paint, etc.
No Somos Nada Gallery and Studio is a great studio for newer artists, the name alone—“We Are Nothing”—tells you something about the attitude. Markollage, Erik Zermeno, Chiwas, Gonzodlt, Esau HZ, Xehan, and Dan Q Moreno all represented. Andre Chavez gave us a tour. He had some cool political/agit-pop paintings.
The last gallery was LA EXTENSIÓN, which had the most expansive show: Manuel Ruelas, Feng Villalpando, Dario Sandoval, Alex Martinez Zaragoza, Hanfod, Soy AMG, Frank Mysterio, Enrique Oroz, Juan Luis Potosi, Mr. Rxbbit, Carolina Melon, Putzu Torres, and Pablo Daniel Arteaga. This is a great gallery because it has a lot of artists with serious diversity of styles. It’s a great way to see a lot of different art being made right now in GDL. I almost bought both of these pieces, but held off. I really liked both of them.
Alexandra knows this scene inside and out. If you’re visiting Guadalajara and care about contemporary art, she’s essential.
After the tour we needed drinks. El Grillo first, then Agüita Agaveria. Both were okay, not fantastic, but not bad. On the walk back to the Airbnb we stopped at a street taco vendor at Av. Chapultepec Sur 237. These tacos were ok, not great, but serviceable.
For anyone interested in Guadalajara’s art scene, there’s an Instagram aggregating what’s happening: @guadalajart_mx.
Next: Guadalajara – Day 2