olivia foundation’s ‘woman in a rowboat’ brings renoir, simone leigh, and more to mexico city

Olivia Foundation presents ‘Woman in a Rowboat’ exhibition

Olivia Foundation presents its current exhibition, Woman in a Rowboat, on view until September 28th, 2025, in Mexico City. The show displays a collection of works from the Olivia Collection that span various genres, subjects, and artistic movements. Taking its name from a painting by Willem de Kooning, the exhibition explores the space and the boundaries between self and world, giving visual form to the interior landscapes of imagination and emotion.

Curated by Diana Nawi, Woman in a Rowboat brings together intergenerational and predominantly women artists whose works navigate memory, emotion, and perception. Pieces from Simone Leigh, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Anselm Kiefer, Tracey Emin, Sarah Lucas, and others serve as entry points into each artist’s inner world, collectively revealing the multiplicity of ways we navigate identity, memory, and perception. The female figure recurs throughout as a reflection of how we see ourselves, with some works capturing the body directly, while others index presence through material and process.

left to right: Anselm Kiefer, Wer jetzt kein Haus hat, baut sich keines mehr, 2021, Joan Snyder, Magic Meadow, 1994, general view of Woman in a Rowboat at the Olivia Foundation, curated by Diana Nawi | all images by Andy Butler, courtesy Olivia Foundation

the show explores the introspective experience of the self

Housed in an early 1900s house reimagined by architects Alberto Kalach and Carlos Zedillo, the Olivia Foundation exhibition space in Roma, Mexico City, showcases artworks from its collection, which includes artworks from post-war abstract art to the modern day. The pieces are unified by their aesthetics and exploration of color, materiality, and form. Woman in a Rowboat forms a chorus of visual vocabularies—spanning surreal, fantastical scenes, quiet depictions of daily life, evocative landscapes, and bold abstractions.

The featured artists include a mix of historical and contemporary voices. Their works unfold a layered dialogue between the material and the ephemeral, the observed and the imagined. With its broad spectrum of artistic approaches, Woman in a Rowboat weaves together different artistic perspectives, revealing how personal and collective experiences take shape through visual expression. The exhibition reflects on the ways art makes the unseen aspects of life visible and felt.

Joan Snyder, Magic Meadow, 1994, Woman in a Rowboat