Away From the Buzz

Art, nature, and a sense of timelessness converge at quiet Meridiano, a contemplative, experimental, open-air art gallery in Mexico’s Oaxaca region

By Jean Nayar

Argentine artist Gabriel Chaile drew on references to pre-Columbian vessels for a sculpture made from black-pigmented clay extracted from the soil of Agua Zarca, a local Oaxacan town.

Completed only two years ago, Meridiano, an enchanting new exhibition space in Mexico, looks as though it could have been constructed by the region’s indigenous Zapotecs, when they flourished in Oaxaca more than 2,000 years ago. Those in search of a rarefied art experience have a new destination in this part of Mexico’s Pacific Coast, where a colony of art and architectural wonders now occupies a vast stretch of land, all close to the beaches of Puerto Escondido.

Among the newest and most enchanting venues in this setting, Meridiano was developed jointly by the Kasmin Gallery in Manhattan and the Axel Vervoordt Gallery in Wijnegem, Belgium and designed by Japanese architect Tatsuro Miki. ※We were introduced to the area by Mexican artist Bosco Sodi, whose work is shown by both galleries,” says Kasmin president Nicholas Olney. Sodi’s studio as well as a Tadao Ando-designed structure called Casa Wabi, which houses Sodi’s foundation aimed at nurturing an exchange between local communities and contemporary art, anchor a surrounding collection of context-specific residences, eateries, mezcalerias
(bars specializing in serving potent concoctions of mescal), shops, and boutique hotels designed by notable Mexican architects, including Alberto Kalach and Carlos Matos.

“We visited the area during the pandemic, when Bosco and a group of friends invited us to get away from our computer screens,” explains Olney. “It was so magical, we just wanted to be a part of it—the setting offered a spectacular opportunity to experience art in a way that was missing.”

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