CATCHING WINDS
Text by Olga Micha, Director of ÑU:
Vicente Matte opens the door. No one but him has entered since the moment he closed it; yet, nothing remains intact. It is as if, during that brief pause in which light is absent, everything has seeped through the window frames, into the space between the door and the floor, into the small, unobservable cracks in the walls.
He enters: he exits the world.
He enters: he returns without coming back.
He returns to a world that no longer belongs to him. He does not merely enter: he surrenders. He abandons himself to the world that he will abandon every time he closes the door, leaves, and enters again only to discover that everything has changed. He surrenders: he is free. He surrenders: he creates.
What happens next has no order. Images, remnants, memories, and gestures appear and dissolve until they remain in suspense. Vicente inhabits the spiral where everything that has been and everything that will be swirls; which is also everything that already is. At the center, a void. From there, something emerges.
On the canvas, the paint does not respond: it is there, detached. It hides its origin. It obeys its own laws and carries a language that flows into silence. The work fills and empties itself simultaneously; it goes and returns from the self which, pierced by it, returns it transformed.
The artist contemplates the drift. He confronts the face that appears on the surface, which remains as pure presence, without identity: the shape of any face, the face of nobody, mirroring the face looking at it from the other side of the canvas.
About the Artist
Vicente Matte explores the construction of images that, from an apparent simplicity, reveal complex narratives. His work features solitary or grouped figures floating in fields of color, suspended in an indefinite time and space, addressing everyday and existential themes of the human experience. His work has been exhibited in international galleries such as Mammoth (London), CLC Gallery (Beijing), and Alexander Berggruen Gallery (New York), and is part of renowned international art collections.
About the Event
Within the framework of Art Week CDMX 2026, ÑU and Luksart present the exhibition Atrapar vientos (Catching Winds) by Vicente Matte. The opening will be accompanied by a talk between the artist, Boris Hirmas, and Patricia Bessudo, conceived as an intimate encounter to discuss Vicente Matte’s work, as well as the visible and invisible paths through which the artistic creation process flows.
Start Date: Monday, February 2, 2026, 12:00 pm (Talk at 2:00 pm)
Talk Participants
Boris Hirmas
Boris Hirmas is a collector and philanthropist with one of the most significant contemporary art collections in Latin America. Based in Mexico, his collection spans painting, sculpture, photography, and installation, with a critical focus and a strong presence of Latin American and international artists. He has presented his collection at international institutions and cultural spaces and actively participates on boards and trusts that promote the development of contemporary art.
Patricia Bessudo
Patricia Bessudo is an art advisor and cultural promoter with extensive experience in contemporary art institutions. She has served as Executive Director and President of the Amigos del Museo del Palacio de Bellas Artes, as well as Executive Director of the Mexican Federation of Associations of Friends of Museums. She is currently Vice President of the SOMA Board of Trustees and is a member of the Mexico Chapter of the Friends of the Tel Aviv Museum of Art.
Confirmed Sponsorships
- Tequila 1800
- Taller de Ostiones
- Casa Tenue
- Architectural Digest
About the Organizers
ÑU is a creative project dedicated to contemporary art that, since 2017, has developed curatorial projects with an intimate, reflective, and experimental focus. Following a period of itinerant projects, ÑU inaugurates its first permanent space as a cultural platform hosting exhibitions, talks, residencies, and workshops, fostering dialogue between art, thought, and literature. Throughout its history, ÑU has worked with institutions such as the Luis Barragán Foundation, in diverse spaces such as the Luis Barragán House and Studio and Torre Reforma, with established artists such as Ricardo Regazzoni, Sergio Hernández, and Carlos García de la Nuez, as well as several emerging artists. It has also participated in Material Art Fair, Salón ACME, and Design House, consolidating itself as an active node within the contemporary art scene.
Luksart is a contemporary art organization dedicated to supporting emerging artists from Latin America, with a particular focus on Chile, through collecting, exhibiting, and the acquisition and sale of artworks. Founded in 2021, its mission is to foster dialogue, generate connections, build networks, and provide international visibility to Latin American and Chilean artists. The Luksart collection covers a wide spectrum of practices, from cutting-edge emerging artists to established figures of modern and contemporary art, including works by artists such as Günther Förg, André Butzer, Stanley Whitney, Sue Williams, Henry Taylor, Adam Pendleton, Matthew Wong, Jonas Wood, Joseph Yaeger, Sanya Kantarovsky, and Ebecho Muslimova, among others.