Anachronisms of the Present

A glimpse into "Anacronías del Presente", on display at RENART Gallery until May 22, 2026

The city of Irapuato in the Bajío industrial corridor of Guanajuato is a rapidly growing urban center for a diverse mix of automotive manufacturing, high-yield agriculture, and commercial services. What it has not been, historically, is a cultural center — or wasn’t, until a visionary project launched in 2016, and which is celebrating its tenth anniversary this year.

Welcome to CREA, the Regional Center for Artistic Expression, a 3 storey building (soon to be 4) on one of Irapuato’s main avenues which is at once an events center as well as an educational and formation space for local artists of all ages. It’s a one-stop building where in the same day you can take an art class, have a coffee on a balcony overlooking the city, follow that by a tour through the CREA’s RENART Gallery, move on to to browse the extensive collection at the Emma Godoy bookstore, before having a leisurely lunch at the open, well-served restaurant, and then either listening to a concert at the same venue (where different international-class bands from different genres play nightly), or head to the venue’s theater to catch a live show. CREA’s versatility and scope make it a unique tool and resource for the city, and one which is well attended and respected by Irapuato’s citizens.

For the ten year anniversary, as a showpiece event, the RENART Gallery is running ‘Anacronías del Presente’ (Anachronisms of the Present) until May 22, 2026. The exhibition features the work — in dialogue — of two regional artists, Diego Mtz Peña of Tequisquiapan, Querétaro, and Eduardo Zúñiga of León, Guanajuato. It’s a daring presentation at a challenging moment in history, made clear by a multi-colored oil painter’s palette just inside the entrance, which has ‘Censurado’ (Censored) painted through its middle. Mtz Peña’s piece makes clear that the exhibition's discourse is going to push at the edges of the world as it currently is, and so it proves, with Zúñiga’s work bringing cycles of violence to the fore, drawing lines through periods in history, with Peña’s focus being more notionally social and political.

Each has stand-out pieces on display. Zúñiga’s distorted works are continually, inescapably affecting. In ‘Trampa’ (Trap), he paints a number of butchered, anonymous bodies engaged in a mutual act of hoisting each other up as objects of meat, and in ‘Carniceria’ (Butcher’s or Butchery), a human blob with a cleaver severs parts (human or other), watched by a faceless audience.

"Trampa" - by Eduardo Zúñiga

Both artists draw in the United States of America, featuring scenes from history (Zúñiga) and an array of ‘Trump’s Fantasies’ (Mtz Peña), with one wall particularly evocative, centering a painting of the Stars and Stripes (Mtz Peña — ‘Watching the American Debacle’) in the middle of an agglomeration of other works. The US flag is puckered in the center, however, its bubble burst by the presence of a pin which seems to draw all the air out of it. Mtz Peña is sensitive to the possibilities of presenting subtle shifts in the iconography of national symbols, and he addresses Mexico’s recent political histories with a painting of Mexico’s own emblematic flag, all appearing perfectly normal, until you realize that in fact the snake is eating the eagle, a power shift on its presentation through history.

"Watching the American Debacle" - by Diego Mtz Peña

Little doubt that ‘Anacronías del Presente’ is a show of heft, and is a testament to the ambition of the CREA project in Irapuato, a real regional center of excellence and a welcome reminder of the civilizing power and importance of culture — always through history — but most particularly in our times.