Felipe Ehrenberg México, 1943-2017

Felipe Ehrenberg (1943–2017), born in Mexico City, was a pioneering Mexican artist whose work defied easy classification. Throughout his career, he explored conceptual art, performance, mail art, mimeography, artist’s books, installations, painting, collage, and editorial projects. After the political upheavals of 1968 in Mexico, Ehrenberg went into exile in England, where he co-founded Beau Geste Press — an important hub for experimental publications and Fluxus-related collaborations. His work during this period connected artists across continents through printed visual poetry and conceptual networks.

Upon returning to Mexico, he co-founded the collective Grupo Proceso Pentágono and later H2O Talleres de Comunicación, creating public murals and fostering cultural projects rooted in community participation. His artistic and political commitments often merged, producing work that was both socially engaged and formally experimental. Ehrenberg also served as Mexico’s cultural attaché in Brazil from 2001 to 2006. Over more than five decades, his practice remained committed to collaboration, activism, and constant reinvention, securing his legacy as one of Latin America’s most influential and unconventional contemporary artists.

Selected Exhibitions

2021 – Testamento (1968–2017), retrospective of collages, ISLAA, New York

2017 – Living in My Art-room (solo), Baró Galeria, São Paulo

2015 – Felipe Ehrenberg 67 // 15, first solo exhibition in Spain, Galería Freijo, Madrid

2010 – Manchuria – visión periférica, retrospective at Museo de Arte Moderno, Mexico City; then MOLAA, Los Angeles; and Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo

2003 – Interfaces Contemporâneas – MAC 40 Anos, Museu de Arte Contemporânea da USP

1977 – Poéticas Visuais, MAC USP, São Paulo

1968 – Salón Codex de Pintura Latinoamericana, Buenos Aires (representing Mexico)

Collections

– MAC USP – Museu de Arte Contemporânea da Universidade de São Paulo

– Tate Archive, London

– British Library, London

– Museo de Arte Moderno, Mexico City

– MOLAA – Museum of Latin American Art, Los Angeles

– Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo