“Mercado/Material” is on view at the Centro de Artes in San Antonio through March 7, 2027. The group show is billed as a commentary on how shopping culture has changed across Latinx communities. It includes more than a dozen artists from San Antonio, Houston, Dallas, Chicago and New York, with photographs, paintings, sculptures, installations and mixed-media works. The gallery is in Market Square.
The Centro de Artes opened in 2007 as the Museo Alameda, which closed in 2012 amid financial problems. The space later operated under Texas A&M-San Antonio before becoming the city-owned Centro de Artes. The center marks its 10th anniversary this fall.
The exhibition was developed by curator Mia Lopez, a San Antonio native who worked as a museum educator at the Alameda starting in 2007. She is now the McNay Art Museum's first Curator of Latinx Art. Lopez told the San Antonio Current that returning to work in the space feels both unusual and natural. She said the idea for the show came after she moved back from Chicago and an open call from the city.