How Latin American Artists Have Harnessed the Allure of Alchemy

Alchemy—the quest to transform base metals into gold—is an age-old fascination and one that has beguiled countless artists over the generations. Latin American artists, in particular, have harnessed alchemical themes as a conduit to express the region’s fusion of cultures, histories, and myths. 

A new exhibition, “Constellations and Drifts: Art from Latin America in the FEMSA Collection,” on view at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Monterrey (through August 9, 2026), in Mexico, draws out how alchemy, transformation, and transmutation have inspired artists from Surrealist Remedios Varo to contemporary sculptor Iván Navarro. 

“The blending of pre-Columbian cultural and religious traditions with four centuries of Spanish colonial influence formed the basis of what we come to understand as alchemy in this region, one rooted in deep spirituality of transformation that has endured over time,” said Eugenia Braniff, co-curator of the exhibition, along with curator Paulina Bravo,  Beto Díaz Suárez, and Adriana Melchor.

The exhibition brings together 170 works by 115 Latin American artists from the FEMSA Collection, one of the most prestigious corporate collections of Latin American art. The museum show, which coincides with the 50th anniversary of the FEMSA collection’s founding, prominently features works by all stars of Latin American art, including Diego Rivera, José Clemente Orozco, and Francis Alÿs, as well as a new special commission by Argentine artist Ad Minoliti.

Five curatorial themes or “constellations” give shape to the sprawling exhibition, including a section centered on alchemy. “When we think of alchemy, there are scientific and philosophical components, encompassing a wide range of associations, from natural elements to astrology,” said Braniff. “As we went through the collection, it became evident that works by many artists in the collection across eras and geographies engaged with these ideas of transformation and change, both in literal and figurative terms.” 

The works in this section span over 80 years, from Roberto Matta’s near-psychedelic Edulis (1942) and Juan O’Gorman’s Boschian’s Los mitos (1944) to the Hilma af Klint-like ciphers that occupy Isa Carrillo’s Patrones de resonancias, stitched thread and fabric works from 2024. 

Some of these works explore alchemy through the specificity of magic as a subject matter.

This portion of the exhibition opens with iconic Surrealist paintings. Latin America became a bastion for European Surrealists, fleeing World War II, including Varo, Leonor Fini, Leonora Carrington, and Kati Horna, all of whom are featured here. Alchemy became a favored metaphor among Surrealists, expressing eroticism, myth, and even the transformation of war. Recent exhibitions have touched on Surrealist artists’ obsession with alchemy, such as “Surrealism and Magic: Enchanted Modernity” at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice in 2022, as well as “Dreamworld: Surrealism at 100,” which was recently on view at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

“Mexican surrealists often understood themselves less as Surrealists in the European sense and more as alchemists, working within a local tradition of spiritual and material transformation,” said Braniff. 

Featured here are famed works such as Leonor Fini’s mysterious La guardiana del huevo negro (1955) and Remedios Varo’s Papilla estelar (1958). “Varo portrays alchemy as a magical kind of transformation, where starlight is turned into nourishment, suggesting how raw materials can become something more meaningful or even life-giving,” said Braniff.

The lesser-known works of French-born Mexican poet and Surrealist artist Alice Rahon are among the gems of the exhibition. Her paintings, including Dans le forêt no. (1942), are almost primordial in effect, with glyph-like markers in pools of color. These works were important to the development of Abstract Expressionism in Mexico. 

For the curators of the exhibition, these ideas transcend time and geography. “Alchemy dates back to the earliest civilizations, and it is a concept that endures with lasting relevance,” said Braniff. “Alchemy has long functioned as a framework for understanding change across multiple categories: physical, psychological, or philosophical and religious.”

For living artists, alchemy offers a way to explore spirituality outside of the language of religion. 

“Its resonance remains, offering a lens through which to consider many of today’s most pressing issues, from climate change to evolving expressions of spirituality,” said Braniff. 

Standouts include Circe Irasema’s El arado en el cielo (2020), which fuses mechanics with the cosmic, as well as Olga de Amaral’s Alquimia II. Braniff sees Amaral’s gold-covered textiles as embodying the alchemical mission, showing how “ordinary materials can be elevated into something precious or spiritual.”