The Museum of Contemporary Art in Oaxaca

MACO, Museum of Contemporary Art, is a magnificent building located right in the heart of the historic center in Oaxaca City.  This colonial mansion was built in the late 1600's.  It originally belonged to Pinelo and Lazo de La Vega family whose coats of arms are carved in stone with Saint Miguel in the center niche.  The building has passed through many hands, one being a professor at the Institute of Sciences and Arts in the early 1900's.  An interesting tidbit, he was the first person to own a car in Oaxaca.
In 1992, it was the efforts of artist, Francisco Toledo, who together with the National Institute of Fine Arts that MACO came to be.  It was later restored in 2009. 

 The Museum also has bikes for rent.

Last March I shot this photo of the large gallery on the second floor with its windows overlooking Calle Macedonia Alcala. 

What I love about MACO is that there is always changing exhibitions of contemporary art of all medias by well known national and international artist.  This last October, this exact space had taken on a new life with these mesmerizing murals. 

The current exhibition, Hecho en Oaxaca (Made in Oaxaca), is composed of works of twelve diverse national artists depicting forms of street art.  I just love how this artist so skillfully created these images above and below without being constricted by the room's corners.

This exhibition continues out in the streets of the city where the facades of historic buildings take on a new life as temporary canvases. The scene just magically flows.

It is brilliant on how the angles of the painted wood sculptures interact with the images painted on the walls.

"Reflejos de Huido" by Lapitola is beautifully done.   I love this little boy deep in thought (reflejos / reflections) surrounded by the birds fleeing (huido) from the birdcage.

The open birdcage just completes the scene.

One of my favorites murals is "Festin"  (feast) by Saner.

What a magnificent pagan feast.

This wall I coveted and would love to have that painted in that exact blue on my white stucco wall in my backyard.  Maybe a summer project...

My friend Bonnie could not have had a better outfit on that day to have this black and white mural as her backdrop. 

Yescka's Last Supper is pretty wild.  It reminds me of a scene right out of Quentin Tarantino's vampire movie, To Dusk To Dawn starring George Clooney, Harvey Keitel and Julliette Lewis.

The Museum is a spectacular building with outstanding art.   I can hardly wait to see what the next exhibition will be.

Museum Of Contemporary Art - MACO
Calle Macedonio Alcala 202
Open Daily except Tuesday:  10am - 8pm
And, there is a nice gift shop too!