Mexico has long been known for its creativity, not only through art but also culture at large. The art tourism market in Latin America is expected to reach US$ 4.284 billion by 2030, growing steadily year by year (source), while Mexico's interactive and media installation sector is expanding with 40-60 major festivals and US$ 630 million in outdoor marketing spending (source). This growth is accelerated by T-MEC partners like Canada investing in Mexico's creative sectors, positioning the country as a key node in North American cultural exchange. With the global art market aiming to showcase all voices, equal representation of different nationalities in fairs and biennales is more important than ever.
I had the pleasure of interviewing Tania Ramos Beltrán and Erick Gonzalez Aguilar, founders and curators of the Mexico-based gallery Avant.Dev, which has been selected for both Venice Biennale’s Personal Structures 2026 and London Art Fair 2026’s Encounters section.
Olena: You opened Avant.Dev very early. Tell us how it started and what pushed you to launch a gallery with a .dev name?
Erick: It began in the summer of 2019 in Paris. I saw how ambitious the scene could be, the mix of art, tech and nightlife, and I wanted that energy in Mexico. I actually bought the .dev domain in a pre-sale and the name stuck. We launched during the pandemic, so we ended up doing exhibitions in gardens and public spaces. They were safe, informal, community-driven shows that blended art with the techno and rave culture I had been working with.
Olena: Who are you showing right now, and what unites these artists?
Erick: Most of the artists are emerging, rooted in Mexico City or nearby regions, and they lean into collaboration. We look for people creating ambitious projects, whether that is contemporary material work, digital pieces, or performance. There is a strong DIY and maker spirit, from textiles to pixel-based pieces and photography, all of it tied to community and craft as much as technology.
Olena: You will be at the Venice Biennale (Palazzo Bembo / Palazzo Mora) and the London Art Fair. Congratulations. What are you bringing to those two very different stages?
Erick: Venice is a long, deep curatorial showcase. We have been invited to the European Cultural Center’s Personal Structures program and we will present works that span coding, lighting, audio, and physical objects. It is a chance to root our curatorial identity in a wider contemporary conversation. London is faster paced. We are preparing a tight, energetic selection aimed at younger collectors. For London we will focus on four voices: Murakiit, Sofía Acosta, María Rébora, and Mariana Tof, with works that speak directly to a market used to immersive and immediate experiences.
Murakiit is a digital media artist who blends pixel art, collage, and GIF animation, often inspired by anime and kawaii culture. Her work reimagines early computer aesthetics to question femininity and gender norms.
Sofía Acosta is a software developer and multidisciplinary creative who moves fluidly between coding, music, and painting. Her practice highlights how technology and artistic intuition can coexist.
María Rébora works at the intersection of ceramics and industrial printing. Drawing from her background in restoration, she creates modular sculptures and installations that blur boundaries between the sensual and the abstract.
Mariana Tof explores ritual, pleasure, and healing through painting and sculpture. From ceramic altars to interior-inspired canvases, her work transforms everyday objects and spaces into sites of reflection and restoration.
Olena: Beyond fairs, what is the bigger message you are trying to send with Avant.Dev?
Erick: We want to create spaces where people can speak about things that often stay on the margins. That means safe, experimental platforms for artists to explore identity, technology, and community. We want to expand networks of curators, collectors, and creative producers, and make Latin American voices visible and connected to global conversations.
“What's fascinating is that visual arts represent just 0.9% of Mexico's cultural economy, not as a limitation but as pure potential. When I walk through studios in Mexico City and see the caliber of work being created, I realise we're sitting on an untapped goldmine of talent.
Every collector who discovers our artists for the first time has this moment of revelation: "Why haven't I seen this before?" That's exactly the gap we're filling. Taking these four women to Venice and London isn't about proving ourselves, it's about sharing what we've always known: that the most exciting contemporary art isn't always where you expect to find it.
The beauty of working with emerging artists is witnessing that magical moment when their local language becomes universal, when a piece made in a small studio in Coyoacán suddenly makes perfect sense in a Venetian palazzo. That transformation, that recognition, that's what drives everything we do at Avant.Dev.” - Tania Ramos Beltrán, Co-Founder.
