Transformation, whether personal or societal, is an experience that touches nearly every human soul. It is certainly a theme that has touched me deeply: several years ago, a surgeon’s error transformed my life by leaving me with a lifetime of medical issues. The transformation was both physical, creating a host of challenges I must deal with on a daily basis, and spiritual, leading me to find space in my heart to forgive the surgeon in order to heal and move on. I write about this in my memoir, On the Way to Casa Lotus. 

This is one reason why transformation is a central theme running through the Margain-Junco Collection of art that I co-founded with my husband, Eduardo Margain. It’s also one reason why I chose, during Hispanic Heritage Month this year, to spotlight some of today’s most influential artists, who happen to hail from my birthplace, Mexico, and have played a truly transformative role in the world of art. Although Hispanic Heritage Month 2021 came to a close in October, a big part of my mission is to honor the cultures and contributions of Hispanic and Latin Americans year round.

While there are many dozens of influential Hispanic artists, there are three in particular whose transformative roles in the art world—and their communities are poignant reminders that although transformation shapes us individually and collectively, we can help shape the course that transformations take. They are Gabriel Orozco, Abraham Cruzvillegas, and Minerva Cuevas. 

Recently, Monica Manzutto, cofounder of the renowned gallery kurimanzutto that represents all three, talked to me about them.

Here are the highlights of what she shared:

Monica Manzutto, Wilfredo Prieto, and José Kuri in La Habana, 2015​. Photo: kurimanzutto

Gabriel Orozco

Gabriel Orozco, 2019. Photo: Ana Hop 

Visionary Gabriel Orozco, who is one of the most important artists of these times, put Mexican art on the global map. Transformation is a theme embedded in his thought-provoking work, which transforms public spaces, triggers probing conversations, and continually redefines everyday objects.

It can be difficult to describe Orozco’s work in terms of a physical outcome; he is more interested in questions than statements, and emphasizes the potential for transformation within mutating materials, forms and meanings.

Orozco’s work has been the focus of solo exhibitions in dozens of prominent museums, including MAM Paris (Musée d’Art Moderne); the Tamayo Museum, Mexico City; the MoMA and the Guggenheim in New York as well as the Venice Biennale. 

Gabriel Orozco, "Black Kites", 1997. digital print on paper. Photo courtesy of the artist and kurimanzutto, Mexico City / New York 

Abraham Cruzvillegas

Abraham Cruzvillegas, 2019. Photo: Abigail Enzaldo 

Abraham Cruzvillegas’ cutting-edge work presents change as a permanent state arising from the chaotic and fragmentary nature of life. His process is deeply influenced by his surroundings; rather than being defined by a particular medium, many of his projects are linked by the platform autoconstrucción: a concept that draws from the ingenious, precarious, and collaborative building tactics implemented by the people living in Colonia Ajusco, his childhood neighborhood in Mexico City.

Through his body of work—which includes sculpture, painting, drawing, installation, and video—Cruzvillegas reveals a close and constant engagement with the material world, immersing himself in the ongoing construction and transformation of personal and collective identities.

Solo exhibitions of his work have been held in prominent museums and galleries around the world, including at the Tate Modern in London, the Aspen Art Museum in Aspen, and the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, as well as the Ginza Maison Hermès in Tokyo.

Hyundai Commission 2015. Abraham Cruzvillegas: "Empty Lot", © Abraham Cruzvillegas. Photo: Andrew Dunkley © TATE 2015 

Minerva Cuevas

Minerva Cuevas, 2016. Photo: Gonzalo Morales 

Minerva Cuevas is an artist with an activist’s soul. Her work delivers a message of non-compliance and resistance. Through the use of images and objects of daily consumption, she invites us to rethink the role corporations play in food production and natural resource management. With irony and humor, her work invites us to reflect on the impact that local actions can have on the enforcement of fair labor practices, as well as on inequality and the distribution of resources.

A relentless critic of reality, Cuevas discovers her source material through analyzing the notions of value, exchange, and ownership that rule a capitalist economy—as well as their consequences. Her work provides fodder for discussing the individual condition in a capitalist regime: constant abuse, dispossession, and estrangement from ancestral and cultural identity, but also the latent possibility of revolt implicit in the everyday.

Cuevas’ work has been exhibited worldwide, including at The Mishkin Gallery in New York, the Dallas Museum of Art, Whitechapel Gallery in London, and Kunsthalle Basel.

Minvera Cuevas, installation view of "Del Montte", Museo de la Ciudad, Mexico City, 2013. Courtesy of the artist and kurimanzutto, Mexico City / New York. Photo: Studio Michel Zabé 

As a Mexican American, I could not be more proud of the accomplishments of these artists. In addition to making a powerful mark on the world, their work uplifts me through its reminder that transformation is everywhere, that it is constant, and that just as transformation can shape our lives, each of us has the power to play a role giving shape to the transformations within us and around us.

Art collector and philanthropist Lorena Junco Margain is the author of On the Way to Casa Lotus, a memoir about her journey coming to terms with the permanent consequences of a surgeon’s devastating mistake. After studying visual arts at Universidad de Monterrey, she co-founded the Distrito14 gallery in Monterrey. She also co-founded and curated, with her husband, the Margain-Junco Collection to promote awareness of Mexican art internationally. She lives in Austin, Texas with her family. Find her online at https://lorenajuncomargain.com

All photos used with permission.