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Strange Currencies

Moore College of Art & Design
Melanie Smith, Orange Lush, 1995/2015, installation view of Strange Currencies, The Galleries at Moore. Photo by Kait Privitera.
Melanie Smith, Orange Lush, 1995/2015, installation view of Strange Currencies, The Galleries at Moore. Photo by Kait Privitera.
Daniel Guzmán and Luis Felipe Ortega, Remake (still), 1994. Courtesy of the artists.
Daniel Guzmán and Luis Felipe Ortega, Remake (still), 1994. Courtesy of the artists.
Eduardo Abaroa, Hombre que cae (Falling Man), 1993-95. Photo by Kait Privitera.
Eduardo Abaroa, Hombre que cae (Falling Man), 1993-95. Photo by Kait Privitera.
Gustavo Artigas, Discurso, 1994/2015. Photo by Kait Privitera.
Gustavo Artigas, Discurso, 1994/2015. Photo by Kait Privitera.

Strange Currencies is the first exhibition to articulate a history for the unorthodox, artist-run spaces that emerged in Mexico City in the 1990s. Fleeting, flickering, and at times confrontational, these venues played a pivotal role in shaping the city's now vibrant contemporary art landscape. Moore's curator is working closely with the spaces' founders, as well as artist-run spaces in Philadelphia, to better understand not only this particular period of Mexico's cultural history, but also the larger questions of how artistic ecosystems are built from the ground-up. The exhibition, taccompanied by outside performances and a film program, includes artworks that have never before been shown outside of Mexico.


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uestions of ractice
Luis Felipe Ortega, “Los Cuerpos Dóciles (macetones),” from the series “The docile bodies,” 1995-97, chromogenic photograph. Courtesy of The Galleries at Moore. 
Interview

Inside The Galleries at Moore: Q&A with Director and Chief Curator Kaytie Johnson

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Recipient
Moore College of Art & Design

Moore College of Art & Design

Established in 1848, Moore College of Art & Design is the first and only visual arts college historically for women in the US. In 2020, Moore opened admission to non-binary, transgender, and gender-fluid students. In addition to its BFA and graduate studies programs, it houses The Galleries at Moore, which offer free exhibitions and programming that explore contemporary art and ideas. The Galleries have featured a number of solo exhibitions and group exhibitions dedicated to significant women artists and designers, including Janet Biggs, Dara Birnbaum, Adrian Piper, and the Guerrilla Girls. 

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