O: Hello Diego! Thank you so much for being here. I think I was telling you about it when we were scheduling the interview, but I love the PALMA project and I would just like to start the interview by asking you where the project came from and what makes the gallery unique.

DA: PALMA started in August last year, a year and a half ago. It begins with the objective of professionalizing everything that art involves. From working with artists to how to manage a gallery. I previously directed an exhibition space and then I had the opportunity to direct the gallery as such and I started from scratch, I think that's also very important. There are two partners who own the gallery and I act as director, but between the three of us we put together the name and the idea in general. It has been a year and a half of experimenting to get to where we are right now. Starting with a group of artists, a path and a few ways of working, we now have four artists represented, which means that we have a long-term relationship. We practically become partners with the artist and the gallery, we are on a joint project, and with the idea of adding a couple more artists represented next year and starting, or rather, continuing to believe in the project.

We currently have three showrooms, in this year and a half we have done 14 exhibitions, which is crazy. There were many projects that have been happening, this year it was necessary to do it this way because we are starting out and it was necessary for people to know who we are and that we are going for the long term, but next year we would like to slow down a little and we are going to focus on 3 blocks of 3 exhibitions and continue to seek participation in the fairs.

O: You mentioned that this relationship they have with artists is long-term. In that sense, what are they looking for in an artist for the management of the gallery?

D: I'm going to use the word long-term again, because what artists do is long-term research. That what they are working on, what they are producing, researching, is a topic that gives a lot. We don't have a defined profile or line. We are primarily interested in working with artists from Guadalajara, Mexico, or Latin American artists. That's our only line, so to speak. We are now working with four artists, Ana Paula Santana, Julieta Beltrán Lazo, Napoleón Aguilera and Raúl Rebolledo. Their practices are completely different from one to the other, I think that is something that makes it even more interesting because there are many fronts that we can attack on one of them. Ana Paula is an artist who is more interested in sound exploration, Julieta is a painter, Napoleon works sculpture together with artisans, Raúl researches issues related to violence in Mexico. They are very different lines between one and the other, but that is what enriches, the dialogue they generate on stage.

O: How are these long-term investigations carried out? I understand that there are artistic residencies, exhibitions, how is the program planned?

DA: Everyone has their own way of working. For example, Ana Paula is very academic and now has the support of the National Art Support System. The National System gives you support for three years, so it's a project that develops for at least that period of time. You have to apply with a more or less armed project, so she has been thinking about and developing this project for several years. On the other hand, Julieta has just finished her master's degree at the Art Institute of Chicago. When I met her, her work was very different, I like to say that Julieta used to be a painter who studied at the Rhode Island School of Design, and when she got her master's degree she started out as an artist. I noticed a huge change in his work. Raúl has been working on the issue of violence in Mexico for many years from different fronts. He asks himself the question why talk about violence in a country where violence is talked about all the time? But what his work is trying to turn it around, rather than a violent topic, it is a hopeful topic for him, even if things happen, there is still light at the end of the tunnel. And Napoleon's work is this research between pop culture and traditional elements, mixing a bit of a culture of drug trafficking that is something very current today, but always with a critical and humorous commentary as well. Well, well, they are all subjects and research that need scholarships and support, because artistic production is not something simple, nor is it cheap, and we as a gallery support them on this path, but also the more we support artists, the more they can develop.

O: Sure. You mentioned that you prioritize artists from Guadalajara, then in Mexico and Latin America. Is the interest in the topics also around Spanish-speaking, Latin American narratives, or would you say it's broader?

DA: More than interest in these subjects, interest is in people. It interests me, first of all they are artists from Guadalajara because they are artists that I know and consider my friends. I went in parts because the four of them are from Guadalajara, but for example, two exhibitions before this one, we worked with Cosa Rapozo. She comes from Mexico City, well she's from Hidalgo but she lives in Mexico City. This exhibition (referring to the room where the interview is taking place) is by Andrea Ferrero, a Peruvian artist who lives in Mexico City. That's why it's leaving Mexico, all of Latin America. The interest is because, well, I think that if I like them that they are people of a level who work in Guadalajara and Mexico City, and that we have had these approaches to their work. First it's their work, and then it's them as artists and people. What interests me is that apart from the fact that your lines of research are something that moves me, human relationships are very important to me. In the end I'm working with friends, that's something super important. Of course, making it very clear that it is one thing for us to be friends and another thing is the working relationship between gallery and artist, but I think that to a certain extent it facilitates this communication that does not have to be so rigid between institution and artist.

O: Speaking of these more human relationships, how do you think art, the art that is produced in Mexico by Mexican or Latin American artists, is perceived differently, in contrast to how it might be perceived in Miami, for example, or other fairs?

DA: From the outset, the profession or the way of producing is very different. I think it's important that Guadalajara is a center for workshops and artisanal production, we have from Tonalá, Tlaquepaque, we have the great advantage that we have the José Noé Suro factory, where artists from all over the world come to produce ceramics with him. For example, unlike Mexico City in Guadalajara, there is a lot of space, artists' spaces tend to be much larger than in Mexico City or unlike those in New York, for example. Or you have the possibility of getting a winery in Chelsea or Brooklyn, but the reality of many artists of this generation is that they live and work in one place, one on top of the other. You can tell the way people produce in Guadalajara, that there is all this space and all this relationship with workshops.

O: It's curious because in forums such as the ForA, Material Station, the relationship with Mexico City always comes up in talks. But I think that Guadalajara has, as you say, this relationship with artisanal production and beyond craftsmanship.

DA: Yes, obviously there's always going to be this comparison with Mexico City. Mexico City has an impressive scene of contemporary art galleries and museums in Mexico City. 30 galleries come to mind when in Guadalajara maybe 5 or 6. Let's not say museums, Tamayo, Carrillo Gil, Jumex, etc., and here we have the MAZ, MURA and MUSA, which don't go 100% with contemporary art, the programs are divided between different types of art. So always, there's going to be this comparison between Guadalajara and Mexico City. Even Monterrey is getting into the conversation a little, especially since they have the MARCO Museum, which is one of the most important in the country, but something that seems very characteristic to me is that the artists from Guadalajara stay in Guadalajara. We can think of the artists who are already very high up, for example José Dávila, Jorge Méndez Blake, Gonzalo Lebrija, all of whom have their studios in Guadalajara. Being able to have their studies anywhere in the world and working with galleries outside of Mexico, they could well have their studies in Paris, New York, anywhere; but they decide to stay in Guadalajara. I think that speaks highly of the city and the art scene as such because I think it's a very peculiar characteristic. Why are they here? The space, the production workshops, because they are studios that have many collaborators, so all those collaborators are part of the next generation of artists. They are young artists working in established artists' studios that help the next generation to grow, I think that's very important.

O: And we saw it with Material Station, right? There were collectors who flew to Guadalajara, paid for their hotel, their plane, and were here to see art in Guadalajara, regardless of a fair or other event in Mexico City.

DA: Yes, I think that as I tell you Guadalajara isn't turning back, it's already part of the conversation. El pre Maco has been going on for years. Everyone before going to Mexico City to Zona Maco comes to Guadalajara a week before going to Mexico City and all the studios, every inauguration is a week with a lot of events and a lot of people. What Material is doing is not letting anything else be art week in February but having another week in September. And again, why Guadalajara? Why did Material choose to come to Guadalajara? It's their fourth or fifth edition, but they come back, come back, and come back. Every time the forum is getting bigger and there are more spaces happening around it, since last year the ACME Hall was joined by an initiative that was not at the MAZ, this year it was in another venue. More things are happening around, we have two art weeks in the city, something has to tell you that everything is fine in Guadalajara.

O: Of course, at the beginning you mentioned the need to professionalize; to professionalize artists, their work. Returning to that with the global aspect, and the attention that there is in Mexico. We already have several decades with fairs such as Zona Maco, events, and producing world-class artistic talent. But I think that in recent years it has been kind of fashionable to come to Mexico and come and set up your studio in Mexico. This coincides with the year and a half that PALMA has been open to the public. How have you experienced this wave?

DA: Look, one of the objectives of why we did PALMA was that we felt that the city needed such a space. We have galleries like Curro, Travesia Cuatro, which have been in Guadalajara all their lives, other younger galleries, others that came and went and you no longer know what's going on with them. But above all, there are many artists who do not have a space or a representation as such of a gallery. A lot of things that happen in Guadalajara are done by the artists themselves, who I think is also something that has kept the art scene very vibrant. So we think that this gallery was needed to focus on younger artists and to a certain extent I think we give them the opportunity to experiment and do things that in other spaces they would not have been able to do, either due to lack of budget or lack of physical space. What PALMA is here to do is to take a place that no one had taken, which is this part, as I said, more experimental, or riskier, and that's why I mentioned the idea of professionalizing it. We want to give it an approach wherever it is from Guadalajara to the outside, so that people can see that what is happening in Guadalajara is well done, is well armed, and that it is worth looking at. I know many collectors who don't buy from artists if they don't work with a gallery because they feel that the gallery supports the artist and the collector. So that's why I think it was important that it be a space that looked well put together. From the way we set up the exhibitions, from the way we communicate, the way we sell. All very, I will not say bureaucratic, but they are processes to be followed that support the artistic profession.

O: And how do you think this process of professionalization contrasts with the culture of improvisation that we have in Mexico? Especially with production workshops, craftsmen, freight?

DA: I mean I think that's part of Mexico and I think it's very important to be able to resolve. Of course I would love for everything to go as planned. And it never happens, it's never going to happen even if you try. So we have to know how to deal with any situation that comes our way, since the assembly, we ran out of time and there is a piece that won't come out on time, or that if the freight arrived late, you can keep thinking about what you could have done to stop it from turning out like that, or you can start improvising and resolving the situation. I think that is a fundamental part of the training of an artist. Know how to do something at that moment, with what you have.

O: On another topic, a while ago I was at a talk at CENTRO. This teacher talked about how she doesn't believe that there is a well-established art market in Mexico yet. She says this for her reasons to believe this, but I am interested to know, in your experience, do you believe that there is a true art market? Or what do you think is needed to have a healthier ecosystem?

DA: I'm just about to finish my master's degree in Contemporary Art Markets and Business there at CENTRO, because being a very global teacher, I have approached several types of markets, such as Los Angeles, New York, London, Paris. Mexico is not far behind, that is, yes, we are behind, but it is because of how each city is configured, how the country is configured. In Mexico, if there are collectors, there are many but not as many as New York, but for something contemporary art in Mexico, which actually began in the 1950s and 60s, is still in force seventy years later. There is a circuit of institutions, of course, there may be challenges and budget cuts, but they are still there. Of course I would love to have a list full of collectors and sell each exhibition to everyone, but it's something you're building little by little. We have galleries in Mexico that are extremely important such as Kurimanzutto, such as OMR, which have been operating for thirty years, of course there is a circuit or rather if there is a base of collectors in Mexico. And recently there has been this approach of foreign collectors to art in Mexico, with more and more Mexicans participating in the Venice Biennial, fairs where you see Mexican artists. So if there are, of course it's smaller than in other countries or cities, I would love it if it were the same size, but there is. The way you live in Mexico, the way you live in the United States, compared to the proximity, is very different. The way in which it is spent in Mexico and it is spent in the United States is also completely different. Just the other day a German artist came and saw the prices of these pieces and said “they are very cheap”. They are cheap for the European market, but not so cheap for the Mexican market, which is the market where we are, where we live. That is why it is important to start participating in international fairs and to internationalize our artists with the objective of growing their careers and their curriculums, and raising their prices. But hey, there are people who spend 40,000 USD a sitting on a piece in Mexico, so there are, but that's why it's important to have a project and professional artists who support the price of the pieces you're selling. I'm not selling this to you on my whim, these pieces have Andrea's research behind them, her curriculum behind them, all the exhibitions she's done, her participation in museums, that's what makes prices competitive with other markets.

O: And speaking of communicating, let's say, the value of artists, professionalizing them, what do you think the role of the media is? Because I think that the way in which the success of a Mexican artist is communicated abroad is completely different from how we could tell it here.

DA: Yes, I think there is a lack of specialized media, and there is also a lack of interest from the media in contemporary art that is made in Mexico. Right now there is the conversation of this American artist Alma Allen, who is going to be the one to present the United States at the Venice Biennial. A month and a half ago, the Mexican artists who are going to represent Mexico were announced, and no one talked about it. Alma Allen I found out because the New York Times He talked about that and from there I found thousands of articles, and of those in Mexico, not even the Mexican media talk about it. I think there's a lack of interest, and I don't know why there's no interest because we do have a pretty interesting scene. I think a better job could be done. We arm Press-kits For each exhibition, we send information, and it falls short. I don't know what it takes to get the media interested. I know that right now having a specialized media, digital magazine, or whatever, is not that easy either, but in the end, with the interest in making things happen, there is something to hold on to.

O: Sure. It also seems to me that there are some small or very niche media, but maybe the national media, that there is even coverage in the news. But then the coverage that is given in that regard is as if even yellowish.

DA: Yes, and very much for Encimita. It has happened to me that local newspapers come and upload the Expos, they misspell the artist's name, they don't corroborate the information they're printing. Like then you also get rid of the desire for them to come to the exhibitions. Something so simple that it is to put the artist's name right, can't you do it? I mean, it's everywhere! (Laughter) It's above the room text, on the façade, the fanzines that we always print from the Expos, the information is there. I think it's also a desire to get into things and do things right. So specialized media, even if they are small, I can say that when the gallery started it was a small gallery and our desire to do things is what has led us to grow the gallery, and I think it applies in the same way to any other initiative. As a medium, as long as you continue to do things, you will grow and grow.

O: Going forward, they have an upcoming exhibition in Miami. Are there other exhibitions you have scheduled?

DA: Yes, this year we closed with participation in the fair in Miami from December 3 to 6. The exhibitions that are currently set up close on December 15 and we started our new program for 2026 the last week of January, which is the week of pre-Zona Maco. There we are going to inaugurate 3 exhibitions. In the main room there will be Ana Paula Santana who is one of the artists we represent, in room two there will be Iran Constantino who is another local artist and in the PB we will have another artist. We are going to start with those three exhibitions, with that we started our program for 2026 and we have already put together our program for the whole year. These are the three blocks from January to April, June to July and August, and September to December.

O: To conclude, what do you enjoy most about being director of PALMA?

DA: Hey, I think everything (laughs). It's going to sound really cheesy, but I started out as an artist and now I have the opportunity to direct a gallery. These are two different ways of seeing art, but I think I do want to come to work every day. It is a much more administrative and planting issue than being an artist, which we then associate with a much freer person who produces when he wants to produce. Managing the gallery has given me this opportunity to relate to the same artists in a different way, to relate to art in a different way, and being studying my master's degree while putting together this project also helped me to have a more complete vision. I had this vision of the gallery completely wrong, like this entity that wants to take advantage of the artist and in the end I understand that no, that it is a team effort. I really enjoy helping or being part of the career growth of my artist friends and I believe that in every exhibition I learn. As we are a very small team, we are involved in all parts of the production of the exhibitions. From getting close to the artist, learning from their research, getting involved in the way they produce to make things happen, then doing the montages, then if every part of the production of the exhibitions teaches me a lot of things. And having to constantly be bathed in what is happening, that is, going to fairs, seeing what other artists and galleries are doing, going to museums, how they do the exhibitions and their programs, which is trying to grab references from everywhere to implement them in the gallery.

O: What would you like to see in your colleagues or other galleries in Guadalajara to keep watching the ecosystem grow?

DA: I'm not of the idea that if a collector comes to the gallery, I'm not going to tell them to go to another gallery because I want them to buy from me. I think that the offer of artists in the city is enormous and everyone is working on different subjects, so I think there is something for everyone. I am interested that rather we can all grow, continue to sell, and do exhibitions that add to the city. Something that is very important is that yes, it is a business, but the main part is that we are spaces that objectively what we must do is contribute to culture. We are a cultural space, entering the gallery is free, anyone can come and learn about these topics that our artists are researching. The more quality galleries, or the galleries that are even there right now, present extremely interesting things, that is what brings the most to the art scene.

O: Completely agree. I thank you for the time and the conversation, with that we concluded the interview. Thank you very much.

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