Any visitor to Mexico will immediately notice the explosions of color everywhere, from the wild decals on a minibus to the elaborate and macabre candy decorations for Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead). So it’s no surprise to find that Mexico City is filled with a variety of art, from postmodern performance art to indigenous-influenced paintings and sculpture. Apart from the museums, art galleries, and sights listed in this book, Metro riders should be sure to keep their eye out for an eclectic selection of painting and photography exhibits in different stations. They change all the time; to find out what’s up currently, see www.metro.df.gob.mx/cultura/index.html.

CENTRO HISTÓRICO
Most art lovers will already know all about the famed Diego Rivera mural in the Palacio Nacional, but not as frequently seen are the more than 100 murals by Rivera covering three stories of the Secretaría de Educación Pública building, plenty to sate even the most die-hard fan of the master. For an odd but often very good selection of modern Mexican art, stop into the Galería SCHP, right behind the Catedral; it’s a gallery run by the Mexican tax authorities that shows works by artists in lieu of their tax debt—a creative solution indeed.
A good selection of modern art can be found at the Museo José Luis Cuevas, just off the Zócalo, while younger, more alternative artists are frequently on display at the nearby Centro de Arte Alternativo Ex-Santa Teresa and the Laboratorio de Arte Alameda, near the Alameda park.

CHAPULTEPEC
Right on Paseo de la Reforma are two of the premier modern art museums in Mexico City, the Museo Rufino Tamayo and the Museo de Arte Moderno. The Tamayo, founded by the Oaxacan artist famed for his intense use of color, contains his own work, as well as work from his private collection, including paintings by Salvador Dalí, Max Ernst, Willem de Kooning, Joan Miró, and Andy Warhol. The Arte Moderno is one of the best places to see the Mexican greats from the 20th century, including Tamayo, Rivera, Siquieros, Dr. Atl, Frida Kahlo, photographer Manuel Álvarez Bravo, and more. A number of high-end galleries are found in Polanco, right north of Chapultepec, where you can see works by more recent artists, like Vicente Rojo and Francisco Toledo.

INSURGENTES SUR
The Roma and Condesa neighborhoods were wealthy enclaves a hundred years ago. They have since declined and are now on their way up again, fast-becoming the epicenter of Mexico City’s current art scene. It’s here where you’ll find galleries like Nina Menocal, Galería OMR, and Art & Idea, showing new artists from Mexico, Latin America, and across the globe. Attending openings at these galleries is a great way to meet people in the local art world. The Casa Lamm, in the Roma, is a cultural institute of sorts. It has exhibits, offers a number of art courses, and features a top-notch library. Architecture fans can’t miss the Casa Barragán, the house designed by Luis Barragán; it was recently designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

SOUTHERN MEXICO CITY
Coyoacán is home to the Museo Frida Kahlo, a must-see for aficionados of the great artist and wife of Diego Rivera. This unusual blue house contains the kitchen, study, and living rooms as the artist kept them, and on the walls hang a number of paintings by herself, her husband, and other modern artists, as well as many indigenous handicrafts and artworks. Her husband’s counterpart is the Museo Estudio Diego Rivera, in San Ángel. For an even larger collection of works by Kahlo and Rivera, head to the Museo Dolores Olmedo, in a beautiful colonial building in Xochimilco. Another top-notch art museum is the Museo de Arte Carrillo Gil, in San Ángel, with a collection of Mexico’s modernists to rival the Arte Moderno in Chapultepec.