The Museum of Modern Art Mexico (MAM) opened in 1964 with the bold claim that it would force patrons to question their national identity.

Not being from Mexico I can’t speak to whether it succeeds in this goal, but I can say with certainty that once you look at their artist roster you’ll question why you didn’t know about MAM earlier. 

An offshoot of the National Museum of Fine Arts and Literature (INBAL), the museum began as a small collection in the Palace of Fine Arts. Curators thought that modern art was merely a passing fancy so they didn’t see the need to provide more than a few galleries to the “trend”. As we all know, for better or for worse (better) modern art is here to stay. This belief was shared by Carmen Barreda, the museum’s first director, who in 1953 started the trust that grew into MAM. 

Designed by renowned Mexican architect Pedro Ramirez Vazquez, the museum was created as a beacon of modernization to honor charismatic and beloved President Adolfo López Mateos whose social reforms had opened multiple museums as well as introduced literacy, public health, and labor programs to post-war Mexico. The museum is shaped like an amoeba comprised of two connected circles topped with domes. This modern style reflects the art within, art which is in constant flux with changing politics and ideas… one might say it reflects what it means to be Mexican (clever architect). 

The museum is two stories of the best Mexican Modern art a girl could ask for. We’re talking Jose Clemente Orozco, Diego Rivera, Francisco Toledo, Remedios Varo (a personal favorite), and Frida Kahlo just to name a few. The museum’s initial exhibition was dedicated to Rufino Tamayo, who was one of the biggest players in the hugely influential Mexican muralist movement. Trust me, this museum has great taste and there is nothing sexier to an art-nerd than a museum with a great collection… unless that museum also happens to have a library with over 8,000 books and articles, a sculpture garden, cafeteria, and is housed in Chapultepec Park, the largest city park in Latin-America (think Central Park of Mexico). If that isn’t enough to get your blood racing, they offer free admission to students and teachers and free general admission every Sunday.