Artist Luis Valverde launched Galería Tianguis Neza in 2021 at Mexico City's La Lagunilla street market, selling artworks directly from artists at affordable street-market prices. The project, born during the pandemic to generate income for artists, operates every Sunday and features a rotating selection of artists, including Tania Candiani, Teresa Margolles, and photographer Pim Schalkwijk, who set up an improvised photo studio using a gelatin silver process.
The gallery matters because it challenges the exclusivity of the traditional art market by making art accessible to casual buyers and providing a comfortable commercial setting for artists to sell their work directly to the public. It has fostered a growing art corridor on Jaime Nunó Street, attracting diverse audiences including foreign collectors and important curators, while offering a dissident model that uses public space to support local artists in a saturated system.