Defining Latin American art is an amorphous task that’s not quite defined by any one continent, history, time period, or even language. Since its founding, in 1981, Mexico City’s Aura Galerías has been at the forefront of promoting Latin American art to a global audience—and defining just what that category encompasses.

Now, to mark its 40th year, Aura Galerías is orchestrating an ambitious exhibition that attempts to showcase the breadth and diversity of Latin American art today.

Jorge Vidals, Twilight (2020). Courtesy of Aura Galerías

“Latin American art has been greatly influenced by military dictatorships, cultural diversity, and the quest for a true identity, and has been taken as a tool of protest, demonstration, and revolution,” says the gallery. “Something that characterizes the style of contemporary Latin American artists is the hybridization of cultures and races, which has given an aggregate value to the art of these countries.”  

Titled “Contemporary Latin American Art,” the exhibition, currently on view virtually, ranges from Mexican artist Didier Mayes’s landscapes, which harken to the palettes of Rufino Tamayo, to Venezuelan artist Daniel Sanseviero’s geometric, perceptually elusive sculptures that quote from the traditions of op and kinetic artists like Jesús Rafael Soto and Alejandro Otero. 

See more images from “Contemporary Latin American Art” below.

Alan Benchoam, Good Morning (2019). Courtesy of Aura Galerías.

Rene Martin, Viviendo en las nubes. Courtesy of Aura Galeria.

Didier Mayes, El Más Guapo. Courtesy of Aura Galeria.

Sonia Pastrana, Mágico Otoño. Courtesy of Aura Galeria.

Mariadolores Castellanos, Lágrima Misteriosa (2017). Courtesy of Aura Galerías.

“Contemporary Latin American Art” is on view at Aura Galerías through April 30, 2021.