mexico renews itself - ProMéxico

66 Negocios ProMéxico | The Lifestyle Negocios ProMéxico | The Lifestyle 67
City on a
Thread
Walking the Tightrope
with Betsabée Romero
La ciudad en un hilo (City on a Thread) opened at the Mycellium
Ingenium Gallery on the 51st floor of the Torre Mayor in Mexico City
on June 21, 2012. Featuring around 80 pieces, several of which were
created expressly for the exhibition, this is the first solo showing by
contemporary Mexican artist Betsabée Romero. In interview with
Negocios, she talks about her dreams, the meaning of her work, and the
path taken by her career.
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by paola valencia
photos courtesy of ludens
Betsabée Romero is one of Mexico’s more internationally
renowned contemporary artists. Born in Mexico City
in 1963, her “urban” discourse and choice of materials
like cars and tires is to be expected from someone raised
in one of the largest cities in the world. With over 90 exhibitions
under her belt, Romero’s work belongs to over a dozen prestigious
collections in Mexico and abroad. In the US, the cities of Los Angeles,
San Diego and New York have been very receptive to her work,
which has also received critical acclaim in countries like Spain,
France, Australia, Colombia, Argentina and Brazil.
The migratory movements of mankind and today’s breakneck
pace of life are some of the themes explored in her work.
—Cars and tires are two words that inevitably crop up
when talking about your work. What meaning do you
attach to them and how would you define your work?
Cars and tires are the tools of my trade. I view them as icons of
modernity, as elements of an international language. As for my
work, although my style is often described as “very Mexican”, I do
not think contemporary art should be labeled in this way. I think
my work is an interpretation of urban living and its contradictions.
I also like to broach topics like borders and migration. It is
all related to the movements of mankind: Why do we emigrate?
How do we get around? I think cultures can largely be defined by
their migratory patterns.
Julián Zugazagoitia once said I was a very “glocal” artist and I
guess it’s not a bad term to define me because I believe you have
to work on both fronts: locally and globally.
—How did you come to adopt these materials?
In 1997 I was invited to InSite Tijuana-San Diego, a biennial that
does not exist anymore –which is a shame since, in my view, it
was one of the most important biennials on the international
scene. Being a part of it changed the mood of my work because I
realized I had grown up in a very built up, central area of Mexico
City, full of mechanics’ workshops and piles of tires. In Tijuana I
saw a lot of scrap yards full of tires and I got to thinking about all
those tires just sitting there when they were meant to be on the
move. That is when it occurred to me I could use them as icons of
modern living.