Until next January 9, 2026, the Instituto Cultural de México (Carrera de San Jerónimo, 46) presents the exhibition Ars Libris, a selection of the heritage of the Embassy of Mexico in Spain.
Curated by Diana Cuéllar Ledesma and Rodrigo Gutiérrez Viñuales, this exhibition is also a thread defined by books and art catalogs of the Octavio Paz Library of the Instituto Cultural de México, specialized in Mexican cultural issues, and particularly rich in such materials. In this line, besides showing outstanding works of modern art of the Embassy, Ars Libris is also a tribute and an invitation to know this research center, which is at the service of researchers, bibliophiles and general public for their consultation.
Visual storytelling is a dialogue between art and books. On the ground floor, the art book shares prominence with a series of paintings in which some figurative proposals are integrated, although, for the most part, they are abstract works. Well-known and recognizable names such as Joy Laville, Pedro Coronel, Vicente Rojo, Leonardo Nierman or Luis Nishizawa lead a team of modern and contemporary creators. In the background, a mosaic of reproductions of book covers and catalogs located in the library of the Instituto Cultural de México and dedicated to women as a tribute to the writer Josefina Vicens. This section also includes four lithographs by María Sada.
On the upper floor, paper is the central protagonist, through graphic work and a selection of books and catalogs about 20th century Mexican graphics. The tour begins with a group of zincographies of the emblematic José Guadalupe Posada; it continues with another composed by artists who have as center of attention the social themes -very representative of the Mexican art of the mid-twentieth century-; and culminates with four prints belonging to the folder Graphics of Mexico and Spain published in the late 90s in Madrid.
A set of reproductions of illustrated book covers from the first half of the twentieth century, representative of modern and avant-garde graphics in Mexico. This is accompanied by copies of the book Mexico ilustrado, 1920-1950, from whose pages emerge most of these creations. Finally, from this space you can access the library that, in this exhibition context, is added as one more work to the sample.
