Planning for Strange Currencies

This exhibition will critically re-examine the emergence and development of unorthodox, artist-driven, and collective artistic practices in Mexico City in the 1990s, and the pivotal role that alternative art spaces played, and continue to play, in shaping the city's contemporary art landscape and legacy. Unlike other investigations of art in Mexico City in the 1990s—often object-centric, market-driven, and framed from an outsider's point of view—this exhibition, curated by Kaytie Johnson, is conceived with the direct input of artists affiliated with these spaces, all of which encouraged self-critique, experimentation, social interaction, and discussion around projects that linked art and everyday life. Planning activities will include on-the-ground research in Mexico City, reviewing primary source material, and interviewing participants. Johnson and her team will also convene members of Philadelphia's vibrant artist-run spaces to explore opportunities for collaboration and off-site programs during the exhibition's run, which is slated for 2015.