Morelia, Michoacán, Mexico Exhibition on view through March 1, 2026
The Museo de Arte Contemporáneo Alfredo Zalce (MACAZ) in Morelia, Michoacán, presents Ernesto Ríos: Retrovisión (2000–2025), a career-spanning survey featuring 55 works created over twenty-five years by one of Mexico’s most distinguished multidisciplinary artists. More than a traditional retrospective, Retrovisión examines over two decades of creative practice as a dynamic field of intersections, resonances, and conceptual dialogues, positioning the exhibition as a highlight of the 2026 cultural season.
Ríos earned a master’s degree from the Interactive Telecommunications Program (ITP) at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, where interactive media and programming became central to his creative vocabulary
Born in Cuernavaca Morelos in 1975, Ernesto Ríos has cultivated a transdisciplinary practice defined by experimentation, research, and the fluid integration of analogue and digital media. His work traverses art, science, technology, architecture, and linguistics, generating visual systems that translate complex conceptual and scientific structures into poetic, perceptually engaging forms. Ríos earned a master’s degree from the Interactive Telecommunications Program (ITP) at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, where interactive media and programming became central to his creative vocabulary, and later completed a PhD in Visual Arts at RMIT University, consolidating a conceptual framework that bridges tactile, material-based processes with digital experimentation.
Rather than presenting works chronologically, Retrovisión unfolds as a conceptual and Rather than presenting works chronologically, Retrovisión unfolds as a conceptual and mental labyrinth. Time is treated as elastic: earlier and later works converse across decades, creating moments of surprise, reflection, and resonance. Visitors are invited to pause, retrace their steps, and discover unexpected affinities among media, techniques, and ideas. In contrast to Ríos’s previous exhibition, Códigos, which guided audiences through a zig-zag-shaped spatial narrative, Retrovisiónemphasizes conceptual connections over linear progression, transforming the act of viewing into an active, reflective experience.
A central concern in Ríos’s practice is the exploration of visible and invisible systems—from biological networks and ecological processes to digital infrastructures and linguistic grids. The exhibition highlights works that investigate these layers of complexity, revealing the fragility and interconnectivity of human experience in an increasingly networked world. Among the featured pieces, Zoonosis exemplifies this approach: a video installation interweaving art, science, and technology to examine the transmission of disease across species. Through immersive imagery and sound, it invites reflection on the unseen forces shaping perception, interaction, and global interdependence.
Ríos’s philosophy of creation centers on what he terms “artistic intelligence”—a holistic mode of working that unites mind, body, and intuition, in contrast to the current trend of AI-generated art. His process often begins with tactile engagement and elemental exploration—earth, fire, water, and air—before extending these experiences through technological experimentation. This integration of materiality and digital processes produces works that resonate simultaneously on physical, conceptual, and poetic levels. Language and ambiguity further activate the viewer’s participation, transforming observation into dialogue and making interpretation a collaborative act.
By placing works from diverse periods in conversation, Retrovisión opens new avenues for inquiry, inviting audiences to recognize the extraordinary within everyday phenomena and uncover subtle, previously unnoticed connections. The exhibition reflects Ríos’s sustained interest in systems, perception, and temporality, while affirming his long-standing commitment to experimentation, research, and conceptual rigor.
With Retrovisión, Ernesto Ríos reaffirms a career that is both deeply rooted and continually evolving, solidifying his standing as one of Mexico’s most renowned visual artists. The exhibition invites audiences to engage with time, perception, and the systemic forces that shape our world, offering a critically attuned and profoundly contemporary perspective that reflects the enduring significance of his artistic practice.
