For nearly a decade, Galería RGR has served as an important bridge between Venezuela’s rich post-war art movement and broader Latin American art while placing these practices within an international discourse of shared aesthetic sensibilities. In charge of the gallery is a young, dynamic art dealer, Ricardo Gonzalez Ramos, who founded it in 2018. In many ways, he represents a new generation of empathetic marketers, who think globally and rewrite parts of the traditional market playbook.
Gonzalez Ramos’ foundation in the art world is centered in Venezuela and Mexico. He was born in the latter, where his father’s family is from, and although he grew up in Venezuela, he traveled frequently to Mexico during his childhood and youth. “It wasn’t a distant land for me. It was part of my personal identity long before it became a place to set up a gallery,” Ramos Gonzalez tells the Observer about his multicultural upbringing.
In Venezuela, he encountered a culture deeply shaped by modernism, especially abstraction and kinetic art. “That situation influenced my understanding of the dynamics of art and the structural role that artists can play in the larger narrative of history,” he explains. At the same time, seeing the weakness of the cultural infrastructure in difficult times made him realize that visibility and heritage cannot be taken lightly and “must be carefully built and strengthened over time.” Galería RGR was born out of this desire to promote visibility and preserve the heritage of these leading artistic languages while creating opportunities for international exchange and exposure.
Ramos Gonzalez says: What first drew him to art was curiosity, but soon he became interested in how art allows us to question vision, history, politics and philosophy at the same time. “That difficulty, and the discipline it requires, is what made me devote myself to it as a living. There is something very powerful in art that works with structure, with subtle decisions about form, color and space. That kind of creativity appealed to me at first.”
The decision to fully commit to the art world, however, came slowly. “I understood that working in art means creating something that requires patience,” he adds. “The gallery is not just about presenting exhibitions. It’s about making artists continue, supporting their development and their long-term thinking. That responsibility makes the work meaningful.”
Since opening in CDMX in a small concrete building in San Miguel Chapultepec, near Labor and Kurimanzutto, RGR has quickly become an important place in the city’s rapidly developing art scene. “Since I opened the gallery in 2018, and especially since I started participating in ZONAMACO in 2024, I have seen an amazing evolution,” he said. “The city has grown from a strong regional capital to a center where international negotiations are established.”
Today the gallery program includes museum-quality presentations of historical masters—such as a major current exhibition dedicated to the Chilean Surrealist artist Roberto Matta, which opened during Mexico City Art Week, and the presentation of a rarely sold Jesús-Rafael Soto. It’s affordable at Art Basel Meridians in December—along with contemporary voices, both local and international, such as Jeppe Heine, Felipe Pantone and Elias Crespin.
“From the beginning, I was committed to presenting the masters of history with the scale and seriousness they need. Exhibitions of famous international people and legacies require institutional weight and continuous participation. Their relevance today depends on that depth,” Ramos Gonzalez emphasized. Working with such artists requires a lot of dedication. “It’s not just a right, it’s a responsibility. Each presentation must meet the highest standards, conceptually and legally. When you’re entrusted with an estate of that scale, the way you organize the work, contextualize it and place it in the right place is very important.”
He may be one of the few marketers of his generation who does not focus exclusively on small emerging voices or limit his focus to the main market, however since the program is built around these historical figures, there is a deliberate emphasis on intergenerational dialogue and structural continuity. “The presence of historical experts is not different from today’s system. It forms its core,” he insists.
He says his gallery’s proposition has always been built on continuity rather than comparison. “We introduce experts in history and contemporary practices because I am interested in how certain questions of art remain active throughout time. Issues of abstraction, perception, design and space are not for one generation.”
“As we develop with experience, the gallery develops with the artists and heritage we work with. Each collaboration, each institutional dialogue, and each exchange with curators and collectors develops the direction,” said Ramos Gonzalez, describing the program as fluid and shaped by attention and knowledge. Every new partnership needs to be carefully considered. Putting an artist on the show is never an unexpected decision. It involves examining how the practice fits into ongoing discussions, how the activities will be presented and what kind of discussions they can create. “The responsibility is not only to preserve the history but also to ensure that the new additions strengthen and expand the intellectual diversity of the program.”
He believes that clarity and coherence are more important than speed, noting that if his generation changes anything, it is the idea that a gallery can be both strategic and profoundly intellectual. “For me, it’s not about rewriting the rules,” he said. “It’s about working in a way that feels consistent, responsible and sustainable.”
Looking ahead, he hopes to expand these discussions. “Color y línea en movimiento” paired pioneering voices in post-war South American abstract and kinetic art, such as Gego, Soto and Cruz-Diez, with similar research carried out by European artists associated with Gruppo Zero, including Enrico Castellani and Günther Uecker, and Juasin Lewipsrc and Juasin Lewipsrc and Juasin Lewipsrc. Crespin.
RGR’s programs have also expanded significantly in Asia, including holding the first ever exhibition in South America by renowned Chinese artist Ding Yi, who is now represented by the gallery. Ramos Gonzalez sees this not as a replacement of the market but as an evolution of abstraction as a transcontinental language. “These stories always come together, even if they were not put together. The next stage is to deepen those ways of communication and make the discussions global,” he explained. At a time when the narrative of Latin America is being reimagined around the world, he feels that the main goal will not be mere appearances. “It’s about depth, rigor and rigor. The long-term strategy is to create presentations and discussions that last a long time and make a tangible contribution to broader art history conversations.”
When asked if he would consider opening a gallery in Venezuela when conditions improve, Ramos Gonzalez says his relationship with the country is emotional and cultural but also grounded in reality. He explains: “Venezuela shaped my early education and continues to shape my thinking.” However, Mexico has always been part of the story of my life. “If the conditions in Venezuela improve significantly, I would consider re-engaging in meaningful ways. Any engagement will need to be sustainable and structured. I believe in contributing to an ecosystem that cannot endure.”
He also invested in creativity beyond the visual arts, especially in architecture, music and other cultural fields. “I’m just an honest person who believes in the power of beauty,” he said, before describing himself as someone who values design in a way that’s akin to anger. “The field of art often rewards speed and constant visibility, but over time, I have become more interested in creating lasting things than reacting to what happens quickly. At the same time, I am always a curious and restless person. I am always thinking about what’s next, what else can be built, and what new conversations can be opened. I have many ideas, but through experience, I have not learned that having ideas is not enough.”
Over time, Gonzalez Ramos has also realized the importance of surrounding himself with people who strengthen the project and think in the same ways, although not. “I value healthy debate, intellectual conflict and discussions that challenge my ideas. Sharing ideas with others who can help shape them and move them forward has become important. Growth does not happen in isolation,” he said. Even his interests outside the gallery—be it design, music or architecture—are not separate from his work. “They improve the way I think about balance, rhythm, tension and stillness. All creative fields end up dealing with how we create knowledge. I’m attracted to that shared logic,” he adds. “I believe that beauty is not for decoration, but for structure. It has the power to reorganize the vision. That belief continues to guide me in the way I work and how I move forward.”
Many Art Conversations
