Fátima González was young, curious, and eager to learn when she began working at Mexico City gallery Kurimanzutto’s front desk after college. She would answer phones, see everyone who came and went, and hear her bosses talking about how to position works of art. “I was this little sponge taking in everything,” González tells The Cut. It would take years, and a pandemic, until she realized she wanted to run her own gallery.
After pursuing a graduate degree at the School of Visual Arts in New York, where she would read for hours, catch shows in Chelsea after classes, and work at an artists’ studio, she returned to Kurimanzutto, this time with a job in sales. In this new role, González would travel to art fairs and build relationships with established artists. They were formative years, but she always felt a pull to do something on her own. “I love the gallery so much. I love my bosses, my colleagues. It was a ‘now or never’ feeling,” she says. “One day, I had the courage to leave the nest.”
González, who now runs the Mexico City–based gallery Campeche — which is making its Frieze New York debut this year — wanted to work with artists, collectors, and curators her age. “There’s such a strong generation in the arts in Mexico now and, at the time, I felt I needed that energy.” She also wanted to be involved in the whole process, from beginning to end.
When did you finally decide to leave Kurimanzutto?
In February 2020, weeks before lockdown. It was a great year of planning that gave me the opportunity to dive into what artists of my generation were doing through Instagram, through Zoom calls and studio visits. At that time, I decided that I did want to have a gallery. I really missed talking to people about art.
About a year later, I started looking for a physical space and found it in one day. I collaborated with a very young architecture firm from Mexico City, and we did a really simple renovation. That sped up the whole process because I had to start paying rent. I was like, “Now I have to put up a show.” I started reaching out to artists I had met throughout that year and I opened with a show of all-women artists from Mexico City. It was a beautiful small group show. We had video, we had sculpture, we had drawings, we had paintings — and the rest is history. It has been a very organic process of meeting artists and slowly building a roster. We don’t have a huge program. We don’t have a huge space. We don’t have a huge anything. It’s quite an intimate scale in everything we do.
How have you been able to develop your eye and learn to trust your own taste?
For someone who’s new to this space, how do you find art you like?
I think you find good art by looking at a lot of art. You have to look at bad things and look at good things. Looking at everything is what makes you comfortable with what you do like. I think it’s a process of training the eye as much as you can, and then you start finding that taste in yourself.
Does that mean walking into galleries, browsing on Instagram? Where do you look?
What are some rules for being a good art-fair visitor?
A good rule is to ask questions and engage in conversation. As gallerists, we are always happy to talk about the work and what we’re doing. I think sometimes there’s this barrier of people not knowing the right question to ask at an art fair. That’s what we are there for. There’s nothing worse than an art fair where people don’t come up to talk to you. Also, an art fair is a hard place to look at art because it’s usually not contextualized. If you have a group presentation, you don’t have a press release or other materials that you would have in an exhibition, so I think it’s polite to ask every question that comes up.
It’s pretty generous. There are no straight guidelines, which makes it quite easy to navigate. Definitely comfortable shoes. The art world is pretty obsessed with sneakers, which is great. You can pair a nice suit with sneakers.
What is a fashion rule that you live by?
My style is pretty classic and feminine: a crisp white shirt, black boots, and a blazer. A white shirt is my uniform. It’s crazy because if you look at pictures from my mom in the ’90s or the ’80s, this is it. My mom is the most fashionable person.
What’s your No. 1 rule for giving gifts?
Buying it on the spot. I am not very good with dates and birthdays, but when you see something that makes you think of someone, buy it in that moment. For me, it’s usually random trips. I don’t plan gifts.
What’s your No 1. rule for canceling plans?
The effort lately has been to not overbook myself and to not say “yes” to everything. And my No. 1 rule is to cancel with time, not last minute, and to be absolutely honest about why. “I had a shitty week.” “Work sucks.” “I’ve been super-stressed.” I had insomnia …” I think people take it better if you’re completely honest.
If you walk into a party and don’t know anyone, what’s your best rule for engaging with people?
What I have learned — and I’m not good at this — is to breathe and introduce yourself instead of waiting for people to come and talk to you, which can be the most awkward thing in the world. I love meeting new people. I’m a very social person, but the introduction is hard for me, and it’s something I’ve learned to do now as a gallerist, owning my own business. Once I break that tiny barrier, I feel very comfortable around people.
What’s your No. 1 rule for a successful dinner party?
I love cooking. I love hosting. I love throwing parties. I guess this also has to do with your space and where you host, but my No. 1 rule is for people to be able to mingle. I don’t like hosting sit-down dinners where you can only talk to one person. I really enjoy having a buffet and putting a bar somewhere else in the space so that people have to walk around. I enjoy mixing people and mixing groups, and I think I do that very well.
What should you bring as a guest?
In Mexico, it’s a very basic social rule that you always bring something for the host. It looks bad to show up empty-handed. You can always ask guests to bring a drink, but there will always be someone who brings you flowers or cookies. I love bringing flowers and I love receiving them. It’s personal. It’s a show of gratitude to the host. Put the cookies out, put the flowers out, open the wine they brought, even if you didn’t ask for it.
What do you think the art world needs more of these days?
There’s a need for intimacy. In the art world, we’re very used to these big dinners or big parties. I’ve found that what I enjoy the most, and what many of my clients enjoy the most, is a one-on-one conversation. What we need is fewer parties, more one-on-one lunches. Having a young gallery, you have to be very strategic about where you put your money and how you host. I find it so much more effective to meet one-on-one with clients, artists, curators, colleagues. I think the era of huge dinner parties is over. People are tired of going to these massive events that all look like the one they went to the night before. In the art world and in life, we need more intimacy.
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