La Jornada: Franz Mayer celebrates 40 years with two exhibitions and Germany as creative axis

To commemorate its 40 years, the Franz Mayer Museum organized two exhibitions and renovated its permanent rooms in order to position Germany as a creative center. One of the exhibits is Albrecht Dürer: The first viral artist, dedicated to the historic German engraver considered one of the great Renaissance artists. The second was carried out in conjunction with the Goethe Institute of Mexico, which celebrates 60 years of its creation with Germany: Revolutions in art and science.

Both exhibitions are interspersed and dialogue with the objects from the museum’s permanent collection: the past of Germanic art and its most notable influences are reviewed. There is also the contemporary and future vision. Among the objects there are drawings, engravings, illustrations, antique furniture, incunabula books, metalwork, porcelain, screens, paintings and contemporary and sound art.

“These exhibitions were born at the end of last year, when the Pierre et Gilles exhibition left. We chose Germany for the Goethe Institute. First we reviewed what was in the museum’s collection and then we renewed the space in form and substance,” explained curator Abraham Villavicencio.

A massively popular artist

Albrecht Dürer: The first viral artist It takes its name from the discussion over copyright that the German artist claimed, after his colleague, the Italian Marco Antonio Raimondi, copied his works in a workshop, which resulted in loss of income. Although several creative centers had works to replicate, all had to comply with regulations and contribute a financial amount, the curators explained.

The conflict ended when the courts ruled in favor of Dürer, forcing Raimondi to recant and place his own seal on the work, which significantly reduced its value.

On the tour, the public is greeted by an artificial intelligence program that copies the personality of Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528), with which they can interact via video call.

“We say that he was the first viral artist because his work was highly concentrated in the movable type printing press. Many workshops had permits to reproduce it and that led him to become an example of massive popularity.

“In his works you can see an interest in geometry and mathematics. In addition, we added tactile tables where visitors can make everything from their own brand of books to an exquisite corpse with shapes present in the pieces,” said Abraham Villavicencio.

In total 40 pieces by the artist are shown. His works on the Apocalypse according to Saint John stand out, from which he chose 15 scenes to illustrate, in which his ability to capture the shape of bodies can be observed.

His imagination also stands out when creating sea monsters and his representation of justice, especially with engraving. Nemesis (the great fortune), where the goddess is detailed lifting a scale. Additionally included are five works by creators who were based on his work, such as Rembrandt.

The exhibitions were a joint effort given that the Goethe Institute is also full of long tablecloths for its six decades of existence. The curation of the contemporary art pieces was in charge of Polina Stroganova.

Creation and search for meanings

in the sample Germany: Revolutions in art and science, Art dialogues with the concepts of today, the future and the way in which Germany has sought to renew its vision to represent. The objects in that exhibition are united under the theme of time and meanings.

For both projects – the experts explained – the permanent rooms were renovated, both in structure and in pieces. On this occasion there are approximately 400 objects, some of which can be seen for the first time.

“With these works we wanted to dialogue about what interests Germany in the world art panorama.

“There are photographs, object art, sculptures and other creations. The artists Michael Sailstorfer, Alicja Kwade, Christian Jankowski and Cándida Hofer, among others, participated. They are all united by the search for a meaning about what Germany is now,” said Stroganova.

“The Franz Mayer Museum has a vision for the future. This makes us think that we are always tomorrow, but also that we have to revisit our collections and permanent rooms; on this occasion we had not renewed ourselves for three years.

“Of the entire collection, we can only show 7 percent; the rest remains in warehouses, although we can say that we are the venue that has the largest number of works by Dürer in all of Latin America,” explained the director of the venue, Giovana Jaspersen.

The samples Albrecht Dürer: The first viral artist y Germany: Revolutions in art and science They will be open to the public until Sunday, June 6, 2027 at the Franz Mayer Museum (45 Hidalgo Avenue, Centro neighborhood, Cuauhtémoc mayor’s office).

Entry hours are from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; General admission costs 130 pesos, and 75 for students, teachers and seniors with identification.