Galería Xippas Montevideo Gallery in Montevideo

Editorial Profile

Founded by Renos Xippas in 1990 in Paris, Xippas is an internationally structured gallery network whose Montevideo outpost brought a distinctly European programming sensibility to contemporary art in Montevideo. Installed in a heritage building on Bartolomé Mitre in Ciudad Vieja — the historic core of the city — the space embodied the gallery's founding ethos: a platform for the discovery and promotion of both emerging and consecrated artists working across painting, photography, installation, and sculpture. The founder's personal ties to Uruguay, having spent part of his childhood in Montevideo before establishing himself as a gallerist in Paris, gave the local venture a biographical dimension that set it apart from conventional international gallery transplants.

The Montevideo program maintained strong continuities with the network's broader roster while actively foregrounding Latin American practices. Exhibitions featured artists such as Marco Maggi, Ricardo Lanzarini, Yamandú Canosa, Dani Umpi, and Rita Fischer — Uruguayan figures shown alongside international names including Leandro Erlich, Vik Muniz, Waltercio Caldas, and Janaina Tschäpe. This dual focus reinforced the gallery's role as a connector between regional and global circuits, consistent with the programming model sustained across the network's other venues in Paris and Geneva. Within the local landscape, the space occupied a singular position among galleries in Montevideo, offering a level of international scope uncommon in the city's commercial gallery sector, while actively contributing to the visibility of Uruguayan artists in European markets through catalogue publications and fair participations.