Everything started with a genuine passion for art. Back in the ‘90s, long before corporate art, brand collaborations and the now-ubiquitous creative cross-pollination of production processes became standard business practice, José Noé Suro launched an art residency inside his family-owned factory in Guadalajara, Mexico. Today, Céramica Suro has become a global destination for artists at all levels—a place where they can truly immerse themselves in ceramic production, push the medium’s boundaries and experiment freely in an environment where traditional knowledge, artisanal excellence and contemporary art converge in a fertile creative exchange. Over the years, the factory-turned-incubator has attracted a roster of celebrated artists, from Marcel Dzama and Jorge Pardo to Jeffrey Gibson, Nairy Baghramian, Pae White and Alicia Kwade, among many others.
“It all generated from a need for me. It was something that I needed to do more than I wanted to do. I felt since the beginning that it was important, and provided me a true reason to come to work every day,” Suro told Observer ahead of this year’s Guadalajara Art Weekend, ZONAMACO and Feria Material.
His entry into the art world was, in many ways, serendipitous. His brother was an artist and introduced him to the burgeoning creative community forming at the time. Though he had a law degree, Suro quickly realized that being a lawyer wasn’t the right fit. Instead, he joined the family business, which at the time specialized in dinnerware and decorative objects for luxury hotels. “I was humbly starting to collect at the time, mainly supporting the local artists like Jose Davilá, who was starting to be an artist.” His passion for art soon led him to transform and expand the business, turning it into a rare hybrid: a contemporary art production hub and a creative incubator. “I was having fun with artists and always having interesting conversations with them. It was natural to bring them into the factory,” he added. “I think that artists always understand things that normal people don’t understand.”
From the start, Céramica Suro thrived on creative collaboration and innovation, evolving organically through an ongoing exchange between the team and the artists who pass through its doors. “We always give them absolute freedom. That’s what makes our residency very different from others,” Suro explained. In some cases, this uncompromising approach has meant taking serious business risks. “We have even jeopardized the business to achieve projects with artists,” he admits, but every gamble has paid off. “Every day, we learn something as artists teach us how to overcome a boundary we didn’t know we could cross. This, of course, made us a better company as we understood more about deep ceramic and the potential medium.”
At Céramica Suro, production, collecting and patronage flow seamlessly together. The factory is in constant motion, with artists from around the world cycling in and out, and the works they create there making their way into exhibitions across the globe. “Thanks to the efforts and the talent of my team, we’ve been able to develop this doable system, it is scalable, so now we can invite artists and produce for them, and at the same time make it a real business. The project shows to our clients and the market that we are a different company.”
Céramica Suro has also helped solidify Guadalajara as an essential destination on the global art map. Guadalajara Art Weekend, which functions as something of an aperitif for ZONAMACO, now draws the international art world to Mexico’s second-largest city—an economic powerhouse and a creative hub home to many of the country’s most renowned artists. But what’s remarkable is how organically this scene emerged. The weekend began as an informal gathering among artists, part of a broader creative momentum that has since propelled an entire generation of Mexican artists onto the international stage. Figures like José Davilá, Gabriel Rico, Jorge Méndez Blake, Renata Patterson, Gonzalo Lebrija and L.A.-born Eduardo Sarabia all put down roots in Guadalajara, choosing to establish and maintain studios there rather than decamping to Mexico City or beyond.
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Suro sees this as a continuation of Guadalajara’s longstanding artistic legacy. “If you review the art history of Mexico in the last 150 years, many of the great Mexican artists are also architects and writers and musicians and filmmakers.” The city’s cultural pedigree is undeniable—UNESCO-listed Hospicio Cabañas houses one of José Clemente Orozco’s most celebrated murals, a sprawling composition that engulfs the walls, vaults and dome of the Main Chapel. Yet, despite this deep-rooted artistic history, local government support for the arts has often been lacking. That began to change, Suro said, thanks to the efforts of Guadalajara’s new generation of artists, who not only brought international attention to the city but also reignited a local appreciation for culture as a driver of economic and social development. Perhaps more crucially, they’ve built a self-sustaining ecosystem, hiring young artists and creatives in their studios and proving that staying in Guadalajara isn’t just an option—it’s a strategic advantage. “I think that what changed everything was the decision of these artists to make Guadalajara the platform for their careers, as they understood that one had a unique position and possibilities,” he reflected. He and his venture have grown alongside this movement.
Guadalajara, he emphasized, offers artists an unparalleled mix of resources: a wealth of artisanal expertise across ceramics, metalwork, and glass; the ability to experiment with traditional crafts and push them into new contemporary directions; and, on a practical level, more affordable studio space than in nearly any other major art city. “They can also find really good spaces for less money. I will say that almost any place in the world and the connections are becoming more decent with the city, we have nice weather, good food. There’s no reason why artists should not love to stay in Guadalajara.”
Guadalajara’s uniquely cohesive and supportive creative community has already begun fostering a new generation of Mexican artists making waves abroad. One standout is Alejandro Garcia Contreras, a recent resident at both Art Explora and Pioneer Works, who arrived in Guadalajara from Chiapas and found in Céramica Suro the perfect platform to develop his uniquely visionary ceramic cosmologies—now sought after by collectors worldwide.
“The beauty of Guadalajara is that it’s a city of artists,” Suro said, but what started as a tight-knit creative circle has, over the years, expanded into a full-fledged ecosystem, with a network of galleries driving the city’s growing influence. Local spaces like Galería Curro, Gaga and Tiro El Blanco have anchored the scene, while international players like Travesía Cuadro have recognized the city’s potential, opening their own outposts. At the same time, cultural policy is finally catching up to grassroots momentum. Government recognition of the sector’s value has led to new public funding flowing into institutions. A prime example is Museo Zapopan, which recently underwent an ambitious expansion and, under the leadership of Viviana Kuri, has cemented itself as a serious player in contemporary art with an increasingly impressive international program.
Yet, what truly sets Guadalajara apart from other emerging art hubs is its rare collaborative spirit and infectious creative energy. Unlike in other fast-growing cultural centers where competition can feel cutthroat, Guadalajara’s art scene is defined by mutual support. Everyone is contributing, everyone wants to contribute and artists are at the heart of it all.
Guadalajara Art Weekend remains true to the spirit that sparked it: a spontaneous celebration of the city’s creative scene, an open invitation for the world to experience the art produced in this singular environment. “As people were coming to Mexico for ZONAMACO, we started to invite friends. ‘Come, we make a lunch, we open the studios… at first, it was mainly a friend gathering,’” Suro said. But what began as an informal meet-up has since evolved into a full-fledged event, complete with open studios, gallery openings and parties. This year’s edition will feature a collaboration with Vogue México and with the usual lineup of tequila brands that help keep the festivities flowing.
A major new addition to the weekend’s itinerary is Plataforma, a contemporary art space founded by Suro with Nidia Elorriaga. Housed in a former funeral home—reimagined by architect Sergio Ortiz y Ai Taller, a key figure from the same generation as Davilá—it was conceived as a platform to support and showcase Guadalajara’s artists while forging stronger ties with the international art scene. Spread over three floors, Plataforma includes a dedicated exhibition space for Suro’s collection, an international curatorial program featuring four interconnected exhibitions highlighting local talent and a top-floor residency program exclusively for emerging artists under 30—one from Guadalajara and one from abroad in each round.
During Guadalajara Art Weekend, the second floor will debut a two-person show featuring works by Jorge Pardo and Pae White, two of Céramica Suro’s earliest residents and now longtime friends. The exhibition will present works the artists produced independently, now brought together for the first time in a space that embodies their shared creative history in an encounter that reflects the artists’ complicity since the early years of their careers in Los Angeles.
On the first floor, Plataforma will launch a solo exhibition by Mexican artist María Sosa, “Una conciencia situada de habitar la tierra.” Her multimedia, research-driven practice examines the resilience of Mesoamerican knowledge systems, tracing how they have endured colonial epistemicides, racism, sexism and other structural oppressions. The project was curated by Agustín Pérez Rubio as the final installment in his year-long exhibition program at the space. “This is meant to be a place to connect artists with curators,” Suro adds. “Everyone goes to Mexico City, and there’s this narrative that all the artists worth seeing are there. Instead, good Mexican artists are in many other centers around the country.”
But if there’s one thing Suro wanted to make clear, it’s that Plataforma is not a private museum, nor is it a vanity project designed to spotlight his collection or his role as a patron of the arts. “What we wanted to do was not copy any other institution and do something that we thought was needed for the city more than any personal project. There is no name of the companies or collector. It’s focused on the artist: we want to support the careers of artists that live in Guadalajara and attract new artists so that the artistic community can continue to grow and thrive.”
Guadalajara Art Weekend 2025 runs from January 30 to February 2.
