Center for the Arts | UDEM and Its Temporary Exhibition Program
At the Centro de las Artes UDEM, we foster an exhibition program that understands art as a space for encounter, reflection, and transformation. Our aim is to bring together narratives that allow us to understand our present with greater depth and, from there, to imagine more conscious, sensitive, and responsible futures. Each exhibition thus becomes a platform for sparking new dialogues and activating thought processes that transcend the aesthetic realm.
We are committed to consolidating a high quality program of temporary exhibitions that brings together local, national, and international artists, as well as curatorial projects that incorporate disciplines such as architecture and design in their various expressions. We also foster institutional collaborations that encourage discussion, reflection, and critical exploration. These exhibitions address relevant and timely themes aligned with UDEM’s humanistic philosophy, reinforcing our identity and expanding the possibilities for learning through art. In this way, the Centro de las Artes UDEM seeks for its exhibitions to serve as active tools for understanding the world and collectively imagining the future we aspire to build.
Personajes: Entre la ficción y realidad [Characters: Between Fiction and Reality] explored how imagined or real figures come to life in painting and intertwine with poetry, inviting introspection and individual creation. The project included a collaborative activity with the Faculty of Education and Humanities, in which students developed stories inspired by the characters represented.
La delgada línea [The Thin Line], by María Fernanda Barrero, offered a sensitive reflection on landscape, boundaries, and materiality, interlacing art, science, and nature to question how we inhabit space. With this exhibition, we continue to provide a platform for ExaUDEM talent.
In La ciudad que fuimos, la ciudad que somos [The City We Were, the City We Are], historical images of Monterrey engaged in dialogue with contemporary photographs produced by students, offering a critical reading of urban transformation and strengthening the relationship between community and visual memory. This project was made possible through the collaboration agreement between UDEM and CONARTE, carried out through the Centro de las Artes UDEM.
El arte entre nosotros [The Art Among Us] brought together a selection of the university’s contemporary art collection to highlight its diversity, its educational role, and its ongoing presence on campus. Activating and reconsidering the collection through new and timely perspectives is essential to re-signifying its works and sustaining their relevance. In doing so, we seek to keep the collection alive, in constant interpretation, and always at the service of both the academic and broader public community.
Expanding beyond the visual arts, the exhibition dedicated to Abraham Zabludovsky delved into the architect’s creative processes, activating a dialogue between his legacy and new generations through academic exercises developed by the UDEM School of Architecture. In this project, for the first time, the exterior space became a platform for exhibition and projection.
Cuando el paisaje habla [When the Landscape Speaks] celebrated the landscape as cultural heritage through works by José María Velasco and Conrad Wise Chapman, emphasizing its identity, historical, and educational value.
Likewise, the Guest Piece, Soothsayers (2021) by Julian Charrière, offered a poetic and critical reflection on the ecological crisis through an interdisciplinary approach that weaves together art, science, and philosophy.
Finally, the exhibition Arte + Moda [Art + Fashion] strengthened our commitment to generating synergies with cultural institutions such as the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Monterrey (MARCO), allowing us to present part of its collection in dialogue with fashion and reinforcing integration with the School of Art and Design.
