Groups and Other Artistic Uprisings

Their artistic focus challenged the traditional notions of the lone artist and of the art market in general, connecting creative expression with political activism, teaching, and cultural action. The project looks at graphic art, staged events and happenings, public interventions, audiovisual work, contemporary publications, and archival material to provide an overview of a period fundamental to the history of art in Mexico, marked by its engagement with politics and society, humor and irreverence, critique of established institutions, and the construction of new regional and international networks, all testifying to the power of collective organization in moments of crisis and social reinvention.

The works of los grupos challenged the notions of the lone artist and the art market, associating artistic creation with political activism and cultural action. The exhibition gathers works of visual art, records of staged events and happenings, public interventions, audiovisual recordings, archival materials, and publications from a period fundamental to the history of art in Mexico, marked by its engagement with the social and political context, the critique of institutions, the use of humor, and the construction of regional and international networks.

The research for this project is a result of the endeavor undertaken by the MUAC ―through the Centro de Documentación Arkheia― to assemble more than a dozen collections of documents produced by the different groups, interconnected with other collections at the MUAC and elsewhere, which reflect the interrelated interests and practices of these collectives and highlight the importance of collaborative work in the development of contemporary art in Mexico.

Organized into five nuclei ―Latin America in Dispute; Fronts and Movements; Irreverence and Subversion; The Institutionalization of los grupos; and Collectivities Adrift―, the project focuses on events at which the groups converged and on works that reflected collective responses to their circumstances, presented as testimonies to the power of collective action in times of crisis and social reinvention.

Groups represented in the exhibition:
Atte. La Dirección, Caligrama, Colectivo 3, Colectivo Cine Mujer, Colectivo La Revuelta, Grupo Códice, Grupo Fotógrafos Independientes, Grupo Germinal in collaboration with the Frente Mexicano de Grupos Trabajadores de la Cultura (FMGTC), Grupo Março, Grupo Mira, Grupo Proceso Pentágono, Grupo Suma, Grupo Tetraedro, Grupo Yoltéotl, El Colectivo, No-Grupo, Peyote y la Compañía, Polvo de Gallina Negra, Solidarte, Taller de Arte e Ideología, Taller de Arte y Comunicación (TACO) de la Perra Brava, Taller de Cine Octubre, Taller de Investigación Plástica, Tepito Arte Acá, and Tlacuilas y Retrateras.

Curators
Mónica Amieva · IIE, Pilar García · MUAC, Julio García Murillo · MUAC, Jaime González Solís · MUAC, Daniel Montero · IIE

Research
Emil Becerril Zambrano, Fernanda Dichi Bocanegra, Grecia González López, Maira Montenegro Zepeda, Nicolás Muñoz Calderón, Diego Olmos Mancera, María Pies Ortuzar

Exhibition organized in collaboration with Museo Universitario Arte Contemporáneo, MUAC, UNAM, and Instituto de Investigaciones Estéticas, IIE, UNAM. It is the result of research carried out in collaboration with students of the Seventh generation of Master's degree in Art History, in the area of Curatorial Studies, part of the Post-graduate Program in Art History, UNAM.

We would like to express our gratitude to the Rector of the UNAM, Dr. Leonardo Lomelí Vanegas, for the support he has given us in undertaking this project and this publication.

National Visual Arts Production made possible by the fiscal incentive established in article 190 of the income Tax Law (EFIARTES).