The exhibition Equis, I Griega, Zeta (mx) focuses on 3 generations of artists from Mexico: X, Y and Z. First organized in New York City, the exhibition returns home, reimagined, where it will officially inaugurate anonymous gallery's new space in Mexico City.

Equis, I Griega, Zeta engages a select, yet significant generational group of artists iving and working in Mexico City - who continue to impact the erudition of art not only in Mexico, but globally: Wendy Cabrera Rubio, Miguel Calderón, Tomás Díaz Cedeño, Samuel Guerrero, Adriana Lara, Berenice Olmedo, and José Luis Sánchez Rull. The exhibition equally acknowledges and extends gratitude to the supporting community of galleries who consigned works for the exhibitions: Thank you General Expenses, kurimanzutto, Lodos, and Peana

The tangled forms - solemn, amusing or grotesque - of life in society identify themselves before themselves in a rather typical way: crowds that are made and remade every minute, planned and unforeseen carnivals, purchasing power, the pleasure of getting lost in the labyrinths of energy or inertia. Here greed devours everything, resignation sanctifies everything, relaxation knows everything and ignores everything at the same time. Seen from the outside, the chaos to which these chronicles allude (in its traditional, pre-scientific meaning) is basically linked to one of the most constant characterizations of Mexican life, which indicates its "fierce disorder." If this was ever true, it is no longer true. In my opinion, the fairest description of what is happening balances the apparent lack of meaning with the haughty imposition of limits. And in chaos begins the perfection of order.

― Carlos Monsivais (Los Rituales del Caos)

anonymous will hold a public reception February 9, 6-9 pm

C. Gobernador Ignacio Esteva 44, San Miguel Chapultepec, 11850 Ciudad de México, CDMX- Piso 3 | Buzz 2#

EXTENDED VERSION

The evening of June 19, 2010, the body of the writer Carlos Monsiváis arrived at El Museo de la Ciudad de México, in the center of Mexico City. Instead of what would have been the opening of an exhibition we organized, the museum became the memorial for one of Mexico’s most famous writers. For 3 inspiring days and debaucherous nights prior we had been led through the city by the artist Miguel Calderon and the U.S. writer Carlo McCormick. However, there we stood, a small band of misfits from New York City, sobered and charmed by the ovation and hordes that came to pay their respects to Monsiváis; accompanied by his relatives, cultural officials of the highest order, along with numerous personalities from the art and literary worlds of Mexico. This was my introduction to Mexico City. A place I would later call home and where I was able to collaborate, experiment with, and grow anonymous gallery.

In the decade since, I have had the privilege of witnessing, and participating in the evolution of artistic culture in Mexico City. The exhibition Equis, I Griega, Zeta focuses on a small, but significant generational group of artists from that community - who continue to impact the erudition of art not only in Mexico, but globally. Artists such as Miguel Calderón, Adriana Lara and José Luis Sánchez Rull represent a generation of artists who have "matured" and grown further in influence. Miguel Calderon, regarded as a seminal figure in Mexico’s independent art scene, often combines a dark sense of humor that is reconfigured into multi-media works that explore deep social and personal territories. Jose Luis Sánchez Rull develops work that is a saturated web of highly informed perspectives on art, sex, drugs, music and death. His work as an artist and educator has directly informed legions of artists. Adriana Lara's international practice historically brings together separate artistic fields in order to continuously challenge the factors that shape contemporary art production.

Meanwhile, a younger generation of artists began to push against what they saw as the new establishment. We now see their artworks, careers and/or organizations develop, fragment, and evolve. Diaz Cedeño delves into the interplay between the natural and the artificial - utilizing regionally found pigments, clay, and metal he incorporates performative rituals and interaction with technology. Olmedo scrutinizes the political dimensions of disability and illness, and the inadequacies of healthcare in relation to skin color, class or gender. Wendy Cabrera Rubio's research and production investigates the impact biotechnology, the extreme right, along with the traditions and aesthetics of didactic theater, through the use of textiles. She, like others of her generation, has been a founding member of several curatorial collectives.

Now new opportunities are forming for an emerging generation of Mexican artists and spaces that continue to push the boundaries of art and culture in Mexico. Samuel Guerrero, approaches an assimilation of territory, its cultural and political implications; the deconstruction and reconstruction of the body, as well as the formation of new appearances through elements of social identity.

The exhibition Equis, I Griega, Zeta focuses on 3 generations of artists from Mexico: X, Y and Z - and officially inaugurates anonymous gallery's new space in Mexico City.

- Joseph Henrikson

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Wendy Cabrera Rubio (b. 1993) holds an undergraduate degree from the Escuela Nacional de Pintura, Escultura y Grabado “La Esmeralda” in Mexico City. After earning her degree, she studied at the Programa Educativo SOMA in Mexico City. Solo and two-person exhibitions of Cabrera Rubio’s work have taken place at the Museo Jumex in Mexico City; Kurimanzutto in Mexico City; PEANA in Monterrey, Mexico; anonymous gallery in New York City; Biquini Wax EPS, in Mexico City; QUEENS in Los Angeles, California; and Nordenhake Gallery in Mexico City.

Wendy Cabrera Rubio’s work explores the relationships between aesthetics and ideology, taking as a starting point historical reviews of the mechanisms of production and the distribution of images. She is interested in the processes of reinterpreting specialized knowledge as well as the impact of applied sciences on popular imagination and the role of art within society. Her artistic processes involve rewriting, archival revisions and the collaboration with other disciplines. Recurrent themes in her research and production are biotechnology, the resurgence of the extreme right and the Pan American project. At a formal level, her practice incorporates performance closely linked to the tradition and aesthetics of didactic theater and educational television, with a special emphasis on the use of textiles and puppets.

Group exhibitions showing Cabrera Rubio’s work have taken place at the Museo Universitario de Ciencias y Artes in Mexico City; Laboratorio Arte Alameda in Mexico City; Karen Huber Gallery in Mexico City; Curro in Guadalajara, Mexico; Lodos in Mexico City; anonymous gallery in Mexico City; Ex-Teresa Arte Actual in Mexico City; the Museo de la Ciudad in Mexico City; Sala de Arte Público Siqueiros in Mexico City; and the Colegio Nacional in Mexico City; among others. Cabrera Rubio currently lives and works in Mexico City.

Miguel Calderón (b. 1971) is regarded as a seminal figure in Mexico’s independent art scene. His pieces often combine a dark sense of humor that is reconfigured into works that explore deep social and personal territories taking advantage of what is at hand to create low budget films and videos.

His multidisciplinary practice focuses on exploring power relations, in interpersonal (often family) relationships as well as between different groups in society. He draws satirical portraits—always with a respectful regard for marginalized figures—depicting Mexico’s class society, defined by rigid hierarchies. His work often is unified by an ever-present sense of theatricality, questioning the fine line between reality and fiction. Frequently cast from the perspective of an outsider, he highlights the macabre complexity of our position as humans in the universe deftly weaving together mockery, social critique and straightforward emotions. He creates works from a mashup of vernacular references, employing a variety of media, including video, photography, sculpture, and painting.

Calderón received his BFA from the San Francisco Art Institute in 1994. He has been the recipient of the Cisneros Fontanals Art Foundation Grant & Commissions program (2013), The MacArthur Fellowship for Film and New Media (2000), and the Bancomer/Rockefeller Fellowship (1995). Recent solo exhibitions have included presentations at kurimanzutto, Museo Tamayo, Museo Jumex (Mexico City). Calderón currently lives and works in Mexico Cit

Tomás Díaz Cedeño (b. 1983, Mexico City) lives and works in Mexico City. His artistic production delves into the interplay between the natural and the artificial, resulting in unique syncretic and liminal encounters where landscape, materials, and the body converge. Diaz Cedeño utilizes natural and found pigments, clay, and metal in his creative process, often incorporating performative solo rituals and interaction with technology. This approach yields alternative representations of the body and organic structures found in nature.

Díaz Cedeño was part of the New Museum Triennial in 2021 in New York. His recent individual and group shows have taken place at Silke Lindner, New York; Museo MARCO, Fundación Casa de México en España, Francois Ghebaly in Los Angeles, Galerie Nordenhake in Mexico City, Frieze London, LISTE Basel, Blain Southern in London, Museo de Arte Carillo Gil, Museo del Chopo and PEANA. Recent residency programs completed by the artist include LaCasaPark Artist Residency in New York and Casa Wabi in Puerto Escondido.

Adriana Lara (b. 1978) lives and works in Mexico City. Lara is a visual artist and cultural producer. Her installations transpose order systems into formal abstract sign systems, shedding light on the dominant mechanisms of representation in today's world. Lara's practice brings together separate artistic fields to continually challenge the factors that shape contemporary art production. She is a founder of Perros Negros, which publishes the fanzine Pazmaker and initiated Red Social, which ventures into the production of live events for artists who work with music

Lara has had recent solo-exhibitions at Midway Contemporary Art, Minneapolis; Greenspon, New York; Air de Paris, Paris; Kraupa-Tuskany Zeidler, Berlin; and Mexican Cultural Institute, Washington DC. Her work has been included in group exhibitions at Kunstverein Bielefeld, Germany; OMR, Mexico City; Emalin, London; the Swiss Institute New York; Perez Art Museum in Miami; the Nouveau Musée National de Monaco; the Sculpture Center, New York; New Museum, New York; and as part o Documenta 13 in Kassel, Germany.

Samuel Guerrero (b. 1997) lives and works in Mexico City. Samuel Guerrero’s work approaches an assimilation of territory, its cultural and political implications; the deconstruction and reconstruction of the body, as well as the formation of new appearances through elements of social identity. Guerrero’s works are shaped by the experiences of the adversities of a territory and moments in which the perception of conceiving one’s self in a specific body and region determines the notion of space historically and culturally. Both towards the reference and speculation of the contents and aesthetics of what came before, as well as the adaptations and interpretations towards the future, by means of constant conversation for different periods understood by non-linear time patterns.

Recent solo exhibitions include Solo presentation, LISTE, Basel (2022); Destino vas muy rápido, Lodos, Mexico City (2021); Observatorio, Ladrón Galería, Mexico City (2021). Flor de valle with Sterling Hedges, Rudimento, Quito (2020); Samuel Guerrero, Antes de Cristo, Mexico City (2019).

Berenice Olmedo (b.1987) was born in Oaxaca, Mexico and now lives and works in Mexico City. Her practice focuses on the use of discarded materials and debris, from carcasses of stray dogs to disused human prostheses. Through her creative amalgamations of bodily fragments, she challenges conventional notions of human wholeness and sheds light on the political aspects of disability, illness, and caregiving. In her work, Olmedo delves into the standardized expectations imposed on our physicality and contemplates the indispensable role of external aids in our existence. By repurposing medical forms and materials, she defies the relentless pursuit of efficiency and flawlessness, opting instead for a contemporary experience that is both corporeal and existential, infused with political undertones.

Berenice has had her works exhibited at the Kunsthalle Basel; the ICA Boston, Boston; the Boros Collection, Berlin; the Dortmunder Kunstverein; the TEA Tenerife Espacio de las Artes, Tenerife; the Eres Foundation, Munich; the Museum of Contemporary Art of Monterrey; the Museum of Contemporary Art of Oaxaca (MACO); the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts; the Krannert Art Museum, Chicago; the Museum für moderne Kunst (MMK), Frankfurt; the Simian, Copenhagen; the Museo Tamayo, Mexico City; the Haus Mödrath - Räume für Kunst, Kerpen and the Museo Universitario de Ciencias y Arte (MUCA), Mexico City.

José Luis Sánchez Rull (b. 1964) is a multidisciplinary artist whose work has been exhibited internationally. Sánchez Rull studied Fine Arts at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York, later returned to Mexico City where he has worked as a teacher at The National School of Painting, Sculpture, and Engraving "La Esmeralda" and as a tutor in the Youth Program Creators of FONCA.

In 2012, the artist participated in the round table that was presented in conjunction with the Poule! exhibition organized by the Jumex Foundation, made up of 68 pieces by 47 international artists, almost all belonging to the collection. At the round table, José Luis Sánchez Rull and visual artist Daniel Guzmán, discussed the influence of beat generation writers on their work, particularly the poet William Burroughs.

The same dizzying energy of beat authors is manifested in La Fortaleza de la Soledad, where art, sex, drugs, music and death are embodied in front of the viewer, confronting him without apology. Sánchez Rull lives and works in Mexico City.