
Repatriación Voluntaria [Voluntary Repatriation] brings together a group of recent works in which Rubén Ortiz-Torres (Mexico, 1964) revisits questions that have accompanied his practice for decades: the relation between context, art and language, and the instability of origins and destinations themselves. Situated within the cultural space that connects Mexico and the United States, the exhibition begins with a deceptively simple question: what does it mean to return?
From América Tropical (1932), the only mural David Alfaro Siqueiros created in the United States and later censored for its political content, to retired police vehicle doors from Tijuana, ceramics inspired by popular graphic culture, and symbols circulating across both sides of the border, Ortiz Torres examines the ways images, narratives, and identities are transformed as they move between territories, communities, and personal narratives.
Rather than proposing a return to a stable origin, Voluntary Repatriation suggests that whatever comes back never returns unchanged. Images reappear transformed by the contexts they have traversed, symbols accumulate new meanings, and narratives survive in unexpected new things and forms. More than an exhibition about return, it is a meditation on everything that happens along the way.












Ortiz Torres explores the social and aesthetic transformations related to trans culture and globalisation. Different strategies spring out from the means he utilises. Including his interest in adaptation processes, among several contexts, and their transformations, were signs and objects simultaneously change their shape and meaning. The work of Ortiz Torres includes painting, photograph, video, collages, multimedia and commercial products that goes from baseball caps to pick-up tricks, that questions the art object and the tainted curiosity of folk.


OMR is a contemporary art gallery in Mexico City, founded by Patricia Ortiz Monasterio and Jaime Riestra in 1983. Over the past four decades, the gallery has fostered and developed the careers of numerous emerging and established artists throughout Latin America and globally; OMR has established itself as a pioneering Mexican contemporary art space, presenting over 400 exhibitions across all media and genres, and participating in art fairs around the world.

A respected voice in contemporary art discourse.
Focusing on ambitious storytelling and insightful art-world commentary. Ocula Magazine publishes in-depth interviews, critical essays and timely analysis on the artists, exhibitions and ideas driving the global art world.
Learn more about Ocula Magazine
Showcasing the best of the art world.
Ocula partners with galleries from around the world to highlight their artists, artworks and exhibitions. Gallery membership is by application and invitation, with each member vetted by an independent panel.
Learn more about Ocula Membership
Specialises in the sale of major artworks.
Led by a team with deep ties to the world’s leading auction houses, galleries and collectors. Ocula’s advisory team offers bespoke services to high-net-worth clients from around the world who are looking to acquire the best of contemporary and modern art.
Learn more about our team and services