For those with an eye for art and design, Mexico City is one of the world’s great cultural capitals.
Few places bring the past and present into such close conversation. Once the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan, it is now a metropolis of 22 million – and a city that Frida Kahlo, Leonora Carrington, Lola Álvarez Bravo and Luis Barragán all called home.
Through our long-standing ties with the city’s curators, collectors and tastemakers, we can offer an insider’s vantage point. What follows is our guide to experiencing Mexico City at its best.
Frida Kahlo & Diego Rivera
Begin with the icons of Mexican Art. In the colourful neighbourhood of Coyoacán, Casa Azul offers an intimate glimpse into the world of Frida Kahlo. Her famous cobalt-blue house, where she was born and later lived with Diego Rivera, is a deeply intimate space. Her paintings line the walls, and the rooms are filled with her personal belongings: traditional Tehuana dresses, paints, brushes. Above her bed hovers an installation of butterflies by Noguchi, later immortalised in a Patti Smith poem.
A short drive away lies Diego Rivera’s Museo Anahuacalli, an insight into his lifelong fascination with Mexico’s pre-Hispanic heritage. Designed by Rivera himself, the museum is built from volcanic stone. Inside are over 50,000 pieces of pre-Hispanic art that Rivera collected throughout his life.
In Xochimilco, the Museo Dolores Olmedo centres around the extraordinary collection of businesswoman Dolores Olmedo, a patron of both Kahlo and Rivera. It counts paintings, sculptures and an array of traditional objects, as well as a celebrated series of Frida’s works – among them The Broken Column.
Art Museums
Chapultepec Park, the city’s green lung, is home to the Museo de Arte Moderno – filled with 20th-century masters, including Kahlo’s Two Fridas and works by Leonora Carrington and Remedios Varo. Next door, the Museo Tamayo, founded by artist Rufino Tamayo, is Mexico City’s hub for contemporary art. Its exhibitions bring together international figures such as Barbara Hepworth and Georgia O’Keeffe with Latin American innovators like Fernanda Laguna and Virginia Jaramillo.
Across town, the Museo Soumaya, built by billionaire Carlos Slim and clad in shimmering aluminium tiles, houses a collection ranging from Old Masters to Rodin. Facing it across the plaza, David Chipperfield’s Museo Jumex holds one of Latin America’s largest private contemporary art collections, with rotating exhibitions of works by Mexican and international artists.
Going further back, the Museo Nacional de Antropología is perhaps Mexico’s most important museum, and one of the greatest of its kind worldwide. The collection spans thousands of years, from Olmec jade masks to Maya stelae and the monumental Aztec Sun Stone. Plan a few hours here at minimum; many visitors return more than once.
For Design Lovers: Luis Barragán
For devotees of modern architecture, Mexico City is synonymous with Luis Barragán, whose work combines minimalist design with bursts of colour and light. A visit to the Barragán House, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, reveals his genius.
On the edge of the city, his famous Casa Pedregal stands on an ancient lava bed, a vast pink mansion with high ceilings and a kitchen tiled in rose. In next-door Tetetlán, a restaurant and concept store built into the former stables, glass floors offer a look at the volcanic rock beneath.
Contemporary Galleries & Art Fairs
Mexico City’s independent galleries have placed it firmly at the forefront of the global art world. Kurimanzutto, founded in 1999, began as a nomadic project staging exhibitions in markets, car parks and cinemas. Today it occupies a former lumberyard in San Miguel Chapultepec, representing leading voices including Gabriel Orozco, Carlos Amorales and Bárbara Sánchez-Kane.
Galería OMR has played a major role in putting Mexican contemporary art on the international map since it was established in the 1980s. Its Roma space presents a range of striking, intellectually rigorous exhibitions, often attracting serious collectors. Its satellite, LagoAlgo, is one of the city’s most engaging creative hubs, perched beside a lake in Chapultepec Park.
Then there’s JO-HS – founded in 2020, it operates between Mexico City and New York. With a focus on emerging artists and interdisciplinary practices, it has quickly established itself as a venue for bold, experimental work.
Each February, the city’s artistic energy peaks with Zona Maco, Latin America’s largest art fair. Collectors, curators and artists descend for a week of exhibitions, performances and parties, with satellite events spreading through the city’s galleries and warehouses.
Shopping & Design Ateliers
The city’s creative pulse beats strongly in its boutiques and ateliers. In Polanco, Onora collaborates with artisans to produce refined homewares, from embroidered textiles to ceramics. In Roma, Xinú turns fragrance into sculpture, its bottles inspired by Mexican botanicals. Ceramicist Perla Valtierra creates elegant pottery and tableware, while Metate blends traditional crafts with contemporary aesthetics. Originario, set in a restored Roma mansion, champions emerging Mexican designers in furniture and lighting.
Markets are lively: La Ciudadela and Bazar Sábado are the go-to for handicrafts, while Lagunilla is the Sunday trawl for vintage furniture. PSA can also arrange private studio visits, giving travellers the chance to meet the makers behind Mexico City’s most exciting contemporary design.
—
Mexico City is inexhaustible. Whether you want private tours of its great museums, access to Barragán’s most intimate houses, or introductions to contemporary artists, we – and our guides and tastemakers on the ground – know it inside out, and can ensure you see the city at its most inspiring.
Considering a journey to Mexico? Speak to our specialists to begin planning your bespoke trip.
Related Stories
The Art Lover’s Guide to Brazil
An Interview With Paola Castelo from Vuelta Sur
A Deep Dive into the Yucatán with Stanley Stewart – The Financial Times
Day of the Dead: A Lively Affair in Mexico and Beyond
@plansouthamerica
