Leo Marz works across traditional and unconventional media, including drawing, painting, sculpture, video, performance, sound, and installation. Through his practice, he explores the intersections of history, technology, objecthood, and subjecthood in contemporary society. His work examines the fragmentary nature of a world in constant flux, creating environments that invite viewers to reflect on the interconnected and contradictory aspects of life.
By recontextualizing fragments of reality to construct alternate worlds, Marz challenges how we perceive and interpret physical and imagined spaces. He elevates his compositions by poetically ascribing them with titles derived from found text. Whether drawing from media, his personal surroundings, or public spaces, Marz abstracts these references to create distortions in time and space.
Lives and works in Monterrey.
Marz received an MFA in New Media from the Transart Institute for Creative Research and Donau Universität, Krems, Austria (2008). He is currently co-represented by Galería Wendi Norris in the United States.
His recent exhibitions include They Stare At You From Billions of Years Ago (MARCO, 2024), Pintura contemporánea en México (Museo Amparo, 2024), and The Ancient Incident (Museo Jumex, 2022). His work has been featured in the Yucatán Biennale, the Emergency Biennale in Chechnya, Palazzo delle Arti Napoli, CCS Hessel Museum of Art (Bard College), Museo de las Américas (Denver), Steve Turner Contemporary (Los Angeles), Espacio Arte Contemporáneo (Montevideo), as well as MAM, MUCA, MACG, Casa del Lago UNAM, and MARCO, among others. His work is part of the permanent collection of Fundación M (Mexico City).
Marz is the recipient of numerous institutional awards, including grants from the Sistema Nacional de Creadores de Arte (SNCA), Programa Jóvenes Creadores del FONCA, Fundación Jumex, Programa de Estímulo a la Creación y al Desarrollo Artístico (PECDA), and the third edition of Bancomer-MACG Arte Actual.
In addition to his artistic practice, Marz is a prolific curator and educator. He has served as Director of the Arts Center at Universidad de Monterrey (UDEM), Professor at the Monterrey Center for Higher Learning of Design (CEDIM), Artistic Director of Lugar Común, and Curator for the XII Bienal FEMSA (all in Monterrey, Mexico). He has lectured at Museo de Arte de Ciudad Juárez, the 2008 American Association of Museums Annual Meeting, and the Peggy Guggenheim Collection (Venice, Italy), among others.
