Milena Muzquiz presents *Hot Served Cold*, a solo exhibition of “works that grew tired of being what they are and take on a new life and a new existence,” explains the artist.
Travesía Cuatro and the collaboration behind the project
The exhibition Hot served cold , held in collaboration with Travesía Cuatro—a gallery with locations in Madrid, Mexico City, and Guadalajara—“plays with the idea of bringing experimental work closer to the decorative arts,” says Milena. “In a way, a work of art is something domestic; people buy it and put it in their home; regardless of whether they see it as a good investment or not, it will still end up on their wall.” The exhibition was on view through March 30, 2026, at Casa Escuela, the cultural center in Mérida, Yucatán, but parts of it can be viewed on its social media.
The artist Miguel Calderón, who wrote the curatorial text for the exhibition, sums it up as follows: “His work speaks of a domestic madness, of the rebellion of everyday objects that refuse to continue fulfilling their function: common household items, bikini patterns from his childhood, curtains and tablecloths that decorate the interior of a seemingly perfect house, but which stand as a new banner of imperfection.”
According to the artist herself, the inspiration came from observing homeless people in Los Angeles. “There’s a very distinctive aesthetic that tells us you can use anything to build a home. Anything at all—even Target bags. All these discarded items offer endless engineering possibilities,” explains the Tijuana-born artist.
“For me, art has always been a huge responsibility. There’s nothing very stable about this kind of career. You have to trust yourself completely, because you’re creating a language all your own, codes that are uniquely yours. Yours and yours alone.” — Milena Muzquiz
The main works in the exhibition:
Hot Served Cold consists of several pieces, including the Shoegazer Curtains, which are paintings that were turned into curtains. “It’s a project that excites me because I started it a couple of years ago, experimenting with the canvases, dyeing them instead of painting them, and then manipulating the paint on the curtains,” she reveals about these works that have evolved.
The installation features a massive ceramic piece composed of a series of tiles and 3D reliefs that Milena describes as “highly sculptural.” A panoramic painting of flowers “in a somewhat aggressively executed teen-gothic style”—in her own words—complements Hot Served Cold.
Watercolors created using water and salt from the Pacific Ocean
Many of the watercolors in the exhibition are made using salt and water from the beaches of the Pacific Ocean, where Milena often goes to watch her teenage son surf, “instead of sitting at home bored as a housewife, reading romance novels or something even worse.”
Regarding the origin of this series, titled *Water Sports*, the artist explains: “It’s not that I’m interested in having a dialogue with nature,” Milena clarifies. “I don’t want to give it a hippie vibe in that sense, because the idea is to create something based on a casual, playful situation.”
Humor, film, and pop culture in Muzquiz’s works
Another painting in the exhibition is titled *When Harry Meets Sally*, “which reflects my somewhat cynical sense of humor,” Múzquiz admits. Another piece, *Violet Hour*—this time a ceramic work—rests on a panoramic table.
Milena Muzquiz’s Artistic and Personal Journey
From Tijuana to Los Angeles and Mérida: the maps that shape their language
Milena Muzquiz, originally from Tijuana, studied Fine Arts at the California College of the Arts in San Francisco, and then New Media at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, where she was a student of Mike Kelley, one of the most influential conceptual artists in the U.S. Muzquiz currently lives between Los Angeles and Mérida. “It feels very Freudian to me to work between these two cultures,” she acknowledges. “I’m always looking for that; L.A. is my home, it’s my kind of landscape, but it comes very naturally to me to seek out another space far from that city.”
An international career marked by experimentation
Múzquiz has exhibited both in solo and group shows at prominent venues around the world, such as the Institute of Vision (New York); Pantaleone Gallery (Palermo); Interior Projects (Los Angeles); the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery; La Casa Encendida, Madrid; and the 6th Liverpool Biennial (United Kingdom), among many others.
The Super Elegantes: music, performance, and humor with a pop twist
In the 1990s, Milena founded the group Los Súper Elegantes together with Argentine Martiniano López Crozet. The band, a blend of installation art, video art, and music, drew inspiration from artists such as the Anglo-French avant-pop group Stereolab and balladeers like Sandro de América, José José, and Juan Gabriel. “I also count Pedro Almodóvar among my influences,” acknowledges the artist, who plans to return occasionally to perform with the duo.
“Revenge in Bloom”: the upcoming exhibition at MURA
And one of those reunions—unfortunately not a musical one—with her former bandmate from Los Súper Elegantes took place in Guadalajara, Jalisco. The artist was presenting a new exhibition titled Venganza en Flor / Vengeance in Bloom at the Raúl Anguiano Museum (MURA). The exhibition consists of five large-scale paintings mounted on large screens.
In the center of the room, he installed a pool featuring six fountains, titled *Ceramic Fountain Titled Sin City*. The exhibition will also once again feature a series of altered curtains. The exhibition, which opened on January 31, will be on view until mid-year.
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