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The artworks stewarded by the Olivia Foundation, the Mexico City institution founded by collectors Guillermo Gonzalez Guajardo and Jana Sanchez Osorio, are, in their words, united by an “exploration of color, materiality, and form.” The collection leans heavily toward eye-popping abstractions by an intergenerational cohort of women artists, including Joan Mitchell, Helen Frankenthaler, Lee Krasner, Cecily Brown, Mary Weatherford, Lucy Bull, and Jadé Fadojutimi.

But their holdings aren’t limited to that mode, with delicate figurations that belie their subjects’ strength by the like of Alice Neel and Tracey Emin, and sculptures in a diverse array of mediums by Carol Bove, Roni Horn, Ruth Asawa, Kelly Akashi, Shio Kusaka, and Louise Bourgeois. Here, abstraction mingles with figuration and moody landscapes.

“Our collection is rooted in the practices of major female artists working in abstraction, with attention to older artists,” the couple told ARTnews. But they’ve also recently begun widening the conversation to include male artists like Jack Whitten, Chris Ofili, Adolph Gottlieb, and Brice Marden. A recent acquisition is Willem de Kooning’s 1965 painting Woman in a Rowboat.

These and much more were on view when the Olivia Foundation, a relatively new philanthropic organization, opened to the public in Mexico City’s Roma neighborhood during the 2024 edition of Zona Maco in February. Titled “Between Us” and curated by Diana Nawi, who is now a contemporary art curator at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, this initial hang also featured blue-chip names like Shara Hughes, Howardena Pindell, Rita Ackermann, Luchita Hurtado, Yayoi Kusama, and Charline von Heyl.

“Sharing artworks with the public has changed how we approach the collection, allowing us to think beyond our own domestic spaces. Creating this kind of public space changes you as a person,” they said.

On the renovated building’s upper level is where the foundation hosts its Artist Spotlight series, meant to debut a new work by an artist; so far Sophia Loeb and Violeta Maya have been tapped to do so.

“Mexico City is an amazing place for young and creative people,” the couple told ARTnews. “The city has grown to be a major site for contemporary art, and this continues to be a transformative period—it feels as though a wider audience has discovered what this city has to offer.”

They added: “In opening our foundation, we are continuing to add to the rich cultural history of the city.”