VILLAZAN is a leading international contemporary art gallery representing some of the most influential artists of our time. Founded by Pablo Villazán in 2015 with the opening of its first space in New York, the gallery has since expanded into a dynamic global enterprise with five exhibition spaces across the United States, Europe, and Asia, and a team of over 30 professionals.
VILLAZAN is committed to supporting the careers and legacies of internationally acclaimed artists through exhibitions, institutional collaborations, publishing, and cultural programming. The gallery regularly produces exhibition catalogues, artist monographs, and artist books, as well as special editions and collectible items, all available through the VILLAZAN Store.
Beyond exhibitions, VILLAZAN has established a robust platform for cultural engagement. This includes artist residencies, children's workshops, documentaries, studio visits, and a range of public programs designed to deepen audiences' connection with contemporary art.
Each year, VILLAZAN participates in major international art fairs such as Art Central (Hong Kong), Kiaf (Seoul), Untitled Art (Miami Beach), and West Bund Art & Design (Shanghai), presenting ambitious projects and reaching collectors and institutions worldwide.
VILLAZAN PROJECT SPACE is an extension of the main gallery, conceived as a curatorial and research-focused platform. Dedicated to hosting documentary-style exhibitions, the space presents archival materials, video screenings, and related content that complement and contextualize the concurrent exhibitions on view at VILLAZAN. This initiative fosters a deeper understanding of the artists’ practices, bridging visual presentation with historical and conceptual frameworks.
Through its rigorous exhibition program, publishing activity, and educational initiatives, VILLAZAN continues to contribute meaningfully to the international discourse on contemporary art.
Pablo Villazán is the founder of VILLAZAN, VILLAZAN PROJECT SPACE, and VLAB Gallery, with flagship locations in New York, Madrid, and Hong Kong.
Although Villazán always harbored a deep passion for art, he initially pursued a career in Law and Economics. After earning his law degree in Madrid in 1999, he worked for one of the top five international law firms. A turning point came when he met the artist Alfonso Bonifacio at an exhibition in Madrid. That encounter sparked an intense interest in Bonifacio’s work and the broader artistic movements of the time, including artists like Juan Barjola, Manuel Hernández Mompó, and the El Paso group. He began teaching art at the university level while continuing his legal practice.
In 2012, during a visit to New York, Villazán encountered the works of Keith Haring, Andy Warhol, and Jean-Michel Basquiat. Deeply influenced by the cultural energy of 1980s New York, he made the pivotal decision to leave his legal career and relocate to the city to pursue a master’s degree at the School of Visual Arts.
There, he began collaborating with major institutions such as the Brooklyn Museum and MoMA PS1. In September 2015, he opened his first gallery in downtown Manhattan with the exhibition The Incredible Keith, featuring graphic documentation by Haring, Warhol, Basquiat, Grace Jones, and Robert Mapplethorpe.
Today, Pablo Villazán is a recognized leader in the contemporary art world. He is known for launching and nurturing the careers of some of the most internationally acclaimed artists and continues to build important private collections while expanding the global footprint of his galleries.