mexico renews itself - ProMéxico

68 Negocios ProMéxico | The Lifestyle Negocios ProMéxico | The Lifestyle 69
“The city is hanging on a
thread and we all live on top
of it, like tightrope walkers.
What shores the city up is
culture and history.”
tator. All that “Don’t Touch”, “Don’t Walk”, “Keep Your Distance”,
“Don’t Cross the Line” messages create an atmosphere so formal
and aseptic it can often be a turn off.
But here it’s completely different. It’s a place with existing
décor –wallpaper, mirror carpet, furniture–, which makes it a
challenge in the sense that all the pieces have to interact with
their surroundings, and during the course of that dialogue each
piece acquires new meaning.
It’s exciting to have two exhibitions showing at the same time
in the same city, but in such different contexts. I’m showing at
Mycellium Ingenium and I also have an exhibit, Al son del agave
(To the Sound of the Agave), at the Tequila and Mezcal Museum
(MUTEM) in Plaza Garibaldi; two very different, but equally
interesting venues.
—What’s next for Bestabée Romero?
I want to continue doing public art. The most I can wish for is to
see my dreams take shape. I’ve already seen many of my paper
sketches materialized on Paseo de la Reforma in Mexico City, but
I have many other ideas I’d like to see come to fruition.
Right now I have an interesting idea for a Ferris wheel depicting
the different roles the vocho [the classic Volkswagen sedan]
has played: as a taxi in Mexico City, as the first car a woman has
ever owned, as a student’s car, etc. I’d like to build it down below,
in front of Torre Mayor. I think it’s a very doable, fun, human
piece that will help make contemporary art more accessible to
people. n
“I believe you have to work
on both fronts: locally
and globally.”
about mycellium ingenium
Located on the 51st floor of Torre Mayor in
Mexico City, the Mycellium Ingenium Gallery
was created to provide common ground for
artists, politicians and entrepreneurs. Its
curator, Adriana María Martínez, is convinced
there is nothing more at odds with reality than
thinking people with supposedly antagonistic
personalities can’t come together and share the
same space.
Reforma 505, Piso 51
Colonia Cuauhtémoc
Mexico City
www.mycelliumart.com
As for cars, they have always been associated with speed and
accidents. In my case, I seek to convey just the opposite. Every
time I paint a piece, I do it slowly, as if trying to give the tire a new
history, a history of slowness. My tires have learned to be patient
again. In terms of speed, it’s a plea to make decisions about politics
and culture slowly, with your feet on the ground.
Art is a vehicle for reflection and knowledge and my work has
to do with the demystification of speed. I take my tires in the opposite
direction and set them in motion to imprint memories on
them, recording everything that has been run over throughout
history.
—How did you become involved in art?
I’ve been in contact with art since I was very young. It was an important
path for me, but I think, to a certain degree, I traveled it
out of disappointment. When I was young I wanted to study Philosophy,
but in the end I opted for Communications Sciences. To
be honest, I never saw myself working in the media; I preferred
to focus on the research aspect, but I always felt very restricted.
That’s when I got to thinking I wanted to create my own messages,
so I went to study Fine Arts in Paris, then I studied Art History
at the Louvre and then I came back to Mexico and did a PhD
in Art History at the National Autonomous University of Mexico
(UNAM). My communications background was instrumental in
introducing me to the art world.
—Why City on a Thread?
The city is hanging on a thread and we all live on top of it, like
tightrope walkers. What shores the city up is culture and history;
memory is the point where the thread is strongest, allowing us to
survive each passing day.
—The 51st floor of Torre Mayor is a business center, not a
conventional gallery. What challenges does showing at the
Mycellium Ingenium Gallery entail?
It’s really interesting. Because they’ll be site-specific to each exhibition
space, the pieces have to converse with their surroundings
in an unusual way. Ordinarily, when you show at a museum
or gallery, the environment is very controlled so the work can be
appreciated, although it’s often counterproductive for the spec-