FELIPE EHRENBERG

The opening takes place on 20 September on the occasion of Nit de l’Art, and will feature historical works such as publications, performance records, paintings, collages, and drawings. Despite the conceptual nature of his thinking, Ehrenberg always sought to communicate with a broad audience without abandoning figuration. Many of his proposals were so bold that they left a lasting mark on the history of art in Mexico. The exhibition is curated by Esmeralda Gómez Galera.

Arriba y Adelante refers to the work of the same title—Arriba y Adelante... y si no, pos también (1970)—a landmark of Mail Art, consisting of around 200 individually painted postcards sent from London to Mexico, where they could be collectively assembled. The title, ironically borrowed from President Luis Echeverría’s political slogan, reveals Ehrenberg’s social and cultural critique, subverting institutional systems of art circulation and proposing alternative forms of public participation. Today, the piece is recognized as one of his most emblematic works, reflecting his activist and and experimental stance. One edition of this work will be on view in the exhibition.

Highlights include the action The Tube-O-Nauts (1970), carried out in the London Underground, where he transformed the city into a performative stage; El arte según yo (1979), a photographic series conceived from a performance at Bosque deChapultepec; and 68 sensacionales destinos el díade hoy (1975), where the idea of travel turns intoa critical chronicle of the present. Collages such as Cuando vivo hago política (1992), created from clippings of the Mexican press, intertwine aesthetics and political reflection. Documents, archives, and action records complement the exhibition, allowing the public to dive into the wide range ofresources and strategies mobilized by the artist.

Felipe Ehrenberg was the founder of the prestigiousBeau Geste Press and a participant in the Fluxusmovement during his stay in England (1968–1976),where he self-exiled. He was a pioneer of sculptural walks and one of the main promoters of Mail Artand the artist’s book.

In the 1970s, he performed in public squares in both England and Mexico, with photo and video records now featured in the exhibition. One of the most emblematic moments is a 1970 recording of his conversation with a Tate Gallery guard, when the artist tried to enter the museum with his face covered by a hood, presenting himself as a work of art—a video later acquired by the institution itself.

An iconic, conceptual, performative, and provocative artist, Ehrenberg developed an extensive body of work as a painter, sculptor, printmaker, chronicler, archivist, teacher, politician, diplomat, editor, actor, and tireless traveler. A singular creator, capable of generating both adhesion and controversy, he turned his life and art into one inseparable project, defining himself as a ‘neologist’, a living work of art.

In Brazil, he served as Cultural Attaché of Mexico in São Paulo while continuing his artistic practice. In 2010, he was honored with a major retrospective at the Pinacoteca, Manchuria – Peripheral Vision, featuring around 250 works. At Baró São Paulo, he held two solo exhibitions: Apocalipstick (2013) and Tocata e Fuga – Abstract Poems (2014), shortly before returning permanently to Mexico. This is the third solo show of Felipe’s work organized by the gallery and the first in Spain.