20th Rufino Tamayo Painting Biennial Opens in Oaxaca: A Personal Reflection on Art and Community
On August 22, 2025, the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Oaxaca (MACCO) opened its doors to celebrate the inauguration of the 20th Rufino Tamayo National Painting Biennial. The exhibition, now live through October 19, features 40 works by contemporary Mexican painters. The opening night was filled with excitement, with Oaxaca’s cultural leaders, artists, and art lovers gathered in the museum’s courtyards and galleries. There was a sense of pride in the air—pride in the resilience and power of Mexican painting, and pride that Oaxaca, once again, is the stage where this art comes alive. I plan to visit this coming weekend to see it for myself.
Awards were announced that night: José Gonzalo García Muñoz, Javier Peláez, and Othiana Roffiel Sánchez received the top acquisition prizes, their works destined to join the national collection. Honorable mentions went to five more artists from across Mexico. It was not just a contest but a celebration—a showcase of the dynamism of painting in this country today.
My Journey Into Oaxaca’s Art World
As I read about the Biennial’s opening, I could not help but think back on my own journey into Oaxaca’s art scene. I have always loved art. I paint myself and am fortunate to work through Galería Jesús Villafán in Oaxaca’s Historic Center. When I first arrived here 26 years ago, I was stunned. I had no idea that art pulsed so strongly in Oaxaca. A city where creativity seems to pour from every gallery, every printmaking workshop, every mural.
In 2002, as I was teaching English, I started learning HTML and Flash programming to make a website for the town where I lived. By chance, this drew me into the digital boom that was just beginning in Oaxaca. Soon word spread, and I began designing sites for artists and eventually for galleries. Before I knew it, I was immersed in the art world—and it was the greatest joy of my life.
Mentors and Moments
My turning point was meeting Siegrid Wiese, a Oaxacan artist of German descent who saw my passion for art and invited me to her informal drawing sessions. For nearly two years, I sketched alongside her and others, guided by her inspiration, her great talent and her generosity. She awakened in me a deeper love for drawing and painting—one that has never left. To this day, I remain in her debt, even if life has carried us in different directions.
Though these personal experiences I’ve come to realize something: art is the blood that runs through Oaxaca’s veins. The artist community here is vibrant, inclusive, and fearless. Oaxacans are generally reserved people, but artists here are not—they share openly who they are, what they dream of, what they suffer, and what they celebrate. They lift one another up, collaborate selflessly, and create spaces where honesty and raw emotion become shared strength and then express it through color and form.
The Biennial as a Mirror
As I look at photos and read about the works of García Muñoz, Peláez, Roffiel Sánchez, and the many others on display at MACCO, I see that same raw honesty. So much of an artist’s drive comes from intensity—sometimes joy, often pain, but always truth. The canvases are filled with boldness, vulnerability, and visions that could only have been born here in Mexico. In Oaxaca, you see that honesty every day, and the Biennial brings it into sharp relief. It is more than an exhibition; it is a mirror of the community I have been lucky enough to glimpse from both inside and out.
Why Tourists Should Experience This
The Biennial runs at MACCO until October 19, 2025, and admission is included with a standard museum ticket. For tourists, this is a rare chance to witness the forefront of Mexican painting while also stepping into the living heartbeat of Oaxaca’s art world. But I want to tell you honestly: this is about more than one exhibition. It is about stepping into a community that has nurtured me for decades, a community where creativity is not a job but a way of being.
I have lived with one foot in and one foot out of this world for years. Yet I know that when the day comes to leap in fully—like jumping from a stage into a crowd at a rock concert—my friends, and even those I have not yet met, will be there to catch me. That is Oaxaca’s art world: endless, infinite creation, held together by trust and love. And that is why I invite you, dear traveler, not just to visit the Rufino Tamayo Biennial but to let yourself be caught up in the magic of this city’s art scene. Step inside, and discover not only the art of Oaxaca, but perhaps a part of yourself you never knew was waiting.
