Mexican Art Today

Do any of the artworks on this page remind you of those shown in this article? Why or why not? Mexican artists today might find inspiration in Mexican history and culture. They might use symbols that have historical meaning. Or they might not.

Many contemporary Mexican artists explore visual vocabularies that relate to precolonial civilizations. But not all of them do. Art is about innovation, and that could mean building upon tradition or creating something entirely new. Art can reflect daily life or it can play with abstract ideas. Read on to learn how four Mexican artists are exploring art’s potential today.

Study the art on these pages. Does any of it visually connect to the art in this article? Many Mexican artists today find inspiration in history. Some explore themes and symbols from ancient Mesoamerica. Art is about experimenting. Artists can build on tradition or create something new! Art can reflect daily life, or play with abstract ideas. Read on to learn how four Mexican artists experiment in their work.

In her 2022 Rubber and Feathered Snakes, above, Betsabeé Romero (BET-sah-bay rohw-MEH-roh) carves precolonial symbols into a recycled tractor tire. Then she fills the carvings with shiny silver and gold leaf and loops a scaly gilded snake around the circumference.

The tire evokes ideas about modernity, urbanity, and migration. Romero’s sculpture and the materials she uses also refer to the past, especially to games played in Chichén Itzá and elsewhere, in which competitors attempted to send a rubber ball through a carved stone ring.

How does Romero create a link between the past and present? Why are the materials and forms she uses important to how she conveys her ideas?

Artist Betsabeé Romero (BET-sah-bay row-MEH-roh) created the work above in 2024. It’s called Rubber and Feathered Snakes. She carved Mesoamerican symbols into a recycled tractor tire and filled them with silver and gold leaf. A gilded snake loops around the outside.

The tire is modern, but Romero connects it to the past. The carved symbols suggest a Mesoamerican game. Players tried to send a rubber ball through a carved stone ring.

How does Romero link the past and present? How do the materials and forms help her share her ideas?

For more than 3,000 years, Mesoamerican peoples have transformed rock, bone, and other materials into statues and structures. In his 2015 Totem, above, Pedro Reyes (PAY-droh RAY-ehs) taps into this tradition. He stacks shaped pieces of volcanic stone—some rough, some polished—into a stylized column.

Originally trained as an architect, Reyes now works in a variety of media, including sculpture, video, and drawing. He uses art to promote activist messages, as well as to honor and preserve Indigenous and Mexican artistic practices. “By combining the ancient and the modern,” Reyes explains, “you can make something that is timeless.”

For many years, Mesoamerican peoples made art from rock, bone, and other materials. Pedro Reyes (PAY-droh RAY-ehs) honors this tradition in his 2015 work above called Totem. He stacks carved stones into a stylized column.

Reyes was originally an architect. He now works in sculpture, video, drawing, and more. He uses art to share his beliefs and honor traditions. “By combining the ancient and the modern, you can make something that is timeless,” he says.

Narsiso Martinez (nar-SEE-soh mar-TEE-nez) makes mixed media portraits on discarded, flattened produce boxes. His 2019 Easy Grape, above, features a migrant farmworker picking grapes, an idea echoed in the design printed on the box. Martinez uses black and white for the figure and bright colors for the fruit, creating visual emphasis.

Martinez came to the United States from Mexico when he was 20. He picked produce to support himself while he was in college. “I started painting farmworkers’ portraits and highlighting not only their stories of hard work and struggles,” says Martinez, “but also how important they are in feeding this nation [the U.S.].”

Narsiso Martinez (nar-SEE-soh mar-TEE-nez) makes mixed-media portraits. The 2019 work above is called Easy Grape. Martinez made it on a discarded produce box. It shows a figure picking grapes. Martinez uses black and white for the figure and bright colors for the fruit. This creates visual emphasis.

Martinez came to the United States from Mexico at age 20. He picked fruit to earn money while in college. Migrant farmworkers face many struggles. Martinez wants to show “how important they are in feeding this nation [the U.S.].”

Gabriel Orozco (gah-bree-EL oh-ROHskoh) is a conceptual artist. To make his 1997 Black Kites, above, he used graphite pencil to draw a grid on a human skull. The grid distorts with the skull’s contours. There is a long history of skulls appearing in Mexican culture. And in European artistic tradition, it is a reminder of life’s fragility.

Orozco says this work is about time. “The time of making, the timing of awareness is very important,” he explains. “So I think Black Kites has that concentration of time in an object that is not very big, but is very powerful.”

Gabriel Orozco (gah-breh-EL oh-ROH-skoh) is a conceptual artist, so ideas are the focus of his work. He made Black Kites, above, in 1997. He used graphite pencil to draw a grid on a human skull. The shape of the skull distorts the grid.

Skulls are important symbols in Mexican culture. In European art, they suggest that life is fragile. Orozco says this work is about time. “Black Kites is not very big, but is very powerful,” he says.