London is getting a new Latin American gallery this October, and it is arriving with a business model unlike almost anything else on the city's art map. Antesala, founded by the Brazilian-born collector and patron Flavia Nespatti, will open in Fitzrovia as a permanent home for exhibiting, discussing and selling art from across Latin America.

Located in a mid-century industrial building in the central London neighborhood of Fitzrovia, Antesala will focus on art and artists from Latin America. The Art Newspaper first reported the plans, describing it as another dedicated venue for non-Western art joining the city's gallery circuit.

What Antesala Actually Does

Antesala is not a traditional commercial gallery, and it is not a nonprofit either. The gallery will organize selling exhibitions of both primary and secondary market works in collaboration with galleries, artists, estates, collections, publications, and nonprofits, together with talks, screenings, and other public programming.

That combination, primary and secondary market, alongside a full public programme of talks and film screenings, is deliberate. As envisioned by Nespatti, the space will be a hub for exhibiting, discussing, and collecting contemporary art.

A Hybrid, Not a Rental Space

Nespatti has been careful to define what Antesala is not. Antesala will not represent artists, but neither will it be a rental space, Nespatti told the Art Newspaper, though collaborators will be charged a combination of a flat fee and a commission on sales. This puts the gallery somewhere between a project space and a consultancy, with Nespatti's team acting as active collaborators on every show rather than simply landlords renting out walls.

She has also been direct about the commercial reality behind the venture. Nespatti is clear that Antesala is not a privately funded nonprofit. "This is a commercial project," she told the Art Newspaper. "I must abide to a certain budget; it needs to pay for itself."

Where Antesala Sits in Fitzrovia

Antesala occupies the first-floor of a three-storey, mid-century industrial building in Tottenham Mews. Nespatti has bought the entire building, with the ground floor rented out to other galleries, a detail that signals long-term intent rather than a short pop-up lease. Nespatti has framed the purchase as a statement about permanence in a city where project spaces often come and go within a single art season.

The Team: Nespatti and Laura González

Nespatti is joined by Senior Director Laura González, an art historian and advisor originally from Puerto Rico, who previously co-founded the Latin American Art auctions at Phillips New York and has advised international collections, museums and galleries, according to FAD Magazine. Her background bridges the auction world and museum advisory work, which fits Antesala's dual role as both an exhibition space and an art advisory practice serving collectors and institutions.

Why London, Why Now

Nespatti's reasoning for launching in London centers on demographics as much as market opportunity. "Latin Americans are one of the fastest-growing diaspora groups in the UK," Nespatti says. "There is an increasing interest in the region, but so often it is treated as one big homogenous land."

That growth is well documented. Research from the Latin America Bureau found that the growth of the Latin American population in the UK has been extraordinary, with a 406 percent increase in London and a 395 percent increase in England and Wales between 2001 and 2021, based on census data. Despite that surge, the same research notes that Latin Americans remain one of the fastest growing migrant and ethnic groups in London and the wider United Kingdom, yet they remain one of the most invisible, a gap Nespatti says she wants Antesala to help close.

More Complex Narratives

Nespatti's aim is to provide greater visibility and "more complex narratives" for Latin American artists, and the galleries that exhibit them, particularly those without a base in London. Rather than presenting the region as a single market or aesthetic, the programme is meant to surface the differences between, say, Brazilian concrete art, Mexican muralism's legacy and contemporary Andean practice.

She has also spoken about the venture in generational terms. "ANTESALA is a long-term commitment. By acquiring the space on Tottenham Mews, we want to create a place for gathering and real dialogue around Latin American art, at a time when our institutions and curators are paying what feels like more attention. Our objective is to support that ecosystem and help build a broader and lasting market."

An Advisory Arm for Museums Too

Antesala's ambitions extend beyond retail sales to individual collectors. Antesala will include an advisory arm for not just private collectors but also institutions, she adds, with Latin American art remaining a "blind spot" for many European museums. That advisory work positions Nespatti and González to consult on acquisitions and research for museums that want to build Latin American holdings but lack in-house specialists.

On the gallery side, gallery clients will primarily be based either in Latin America or in Europe, Nespatti plans to also work with London dealerships with strong reputations for dealing in art from the region, including The Mayor Gallery, one of the city's longest-running spaces for Latin American modernism.

First Exhibition: Assembly Lines

Antesala's opening show sets the tone for its programming. Its first exhibition, a show of drawings from Latin America titled "Assembly Lines," will open on October 10. A drawings show is a notable choice for an opening statement: it is a medium collectors often overlook next to painting and sculpture, and one that can foreground process and ideas over market spectacle.

What This Means for Collectors and Galleries

For galleries and estates across Latin America without a London outpost, Antesala offers a way to reach European buyers without the overhead of opening a permanent branch. For collectors, the advisory arm offers guidance in a market segment that many mainstream London dealers and auction specialists still treat unevenly. For museums, it offers a partner equipped to help fill gaps in collections that have historically underrepresented the region.

Readers who want to track the space as it develops can follow ongoing coverage in our editorial section, or check listings for talks and screenings tied to the opening once dates are confirmed in our events calendar.

FAQ

What is Antesala? Antesala is a new commercial art space in London's Fitzrovia neighborhood, founded by collector and patron Flavia Nespatti, dedicated to art and artists from Latin America. It combines selling exhibitions with a public programme of talks, gatherings and film screenings.

Who runs Antesala? Flavia Nespatti is the founder, joined by Senior Director Laura González, an art historian and advisor from Puerto Rico who previously worked in the Latin American art department at Phillips auction house in New York.

Where is Antesala located? The space occupies the first floor of a three-storey, mid-century industrial building on Tottenham Mews in Fitzrovia, central London. Nespatti purchased the entire building, with the ground floor leased to other galleries.

When does Antesala open, and what is the first show? Antesala opens this October, with its inaugural exhibition, "Assembly Lines," a show of Latin American drawings, opening on October 10.

Is Antesala a nonprofit? No. Nespatti has described it explicitly as a commercial project that must operate within a budget and pay for itself, distinguishing it from privately funded nonprofit spaces.