Breaking the Frame: Inside Alday Hunken’s Vision for Hypercuration

Alday Hunken Gallery founders Vai Jong Hunken and Alfonso Alday

By KATE HOAG August 22, 2025

When cousins Vai Jong Hunken and Alfonso Alday decided to launch Alday Hunken Gallery over eight months ago, they weren’t interested in replicating the traditional gallery formula. From the beginning, their goal was to create a flexible, artist-first model—something that could shift and adapt to the needs of each project rather than forcing work into a single, static space. “I’ve always obviously loved art,” Hunken says. “I think it was kind of natural in a way to just do my thing and do it with more freedom. We wanted to change the model.”

Their model is focused on what they call “hypercuration,” a term that reflects their decision to work across multiple, carefully chosen locations instead of anchoring themselves to one fixed address. “Maybe it makes more sense to look for spaces that are more in tune with the type of artist we work with, or the scale they want to work in,” Hunken explains. “If we give them the freedom to work in the format they want, instead of being constrained by the space, they produce work that’s more risky and more interesting.”

For Alday, the benefits extend beyond the artists. “It also democratizes the field as a whole,” he says. “It’s giving artists the opportunity to present in places they would never think about, and it puts fine art where people don’t expect it. Galleries can be intimidating spaces. This way, art can be seen by everyone.”

Ileana Moreno: Talisánima Oil and acrylic on canvas. 3D printing PLA (frame) 160cm x 110cm Framed

Both founders bring deep roots from Mexico City’s art scene, a connection that informs their cross-border programming that links Mexico City and Atlanta. “Here it was always the muralists…most of them men,” Hunken says. “It was important to support new artists doing something different, moving away from that, and to place them globally.” He was especially motivated to challenge the way Mexican artists are often presented at international fairs. “When we went to fairs, people expected to see certain things. For me, it was important to support artists taking a more abstract approach, less linked to identity, which can be trapping.”

That perspective also shapes their commitment to geographic inclusivity. “Here in Mexico, it’s very common that either you’re in Mexico City or you’re not in the art scene at all,” Hunken notes. “We want to welcome artists from other parts of Mexico and show them in Mexico and outside. It gives a lot of plurality to the discourse of what Mexican art is.”

This ethos comes to life in exhibitions like Dual(real)ities, which paired artists Yumnia Duarte and Christa Collins, who is based in Atlanta. “Yumnia works more with abstraction. She focuses on using color and texture to bring out the emotional qualities of a place, maybe the water, maybe the sensation of it,” Hunken says. “Her paintings kind of mutate because they’re not solid colors.” Collins, self-taught and working in black-and-white, approaches abstraction through layered materiality. “Even if Christa is very black-and-white and Yumnia is very colorful, the materiality of it speaks together.”

Anna Van den Hövel: BROKEN HEAD BEACH Mixed media on canvas / framed 180cm x 120cm

For Alday, the pairing represents more than an aesthetic dialogue. “Both being female, from outside the Mexico City fine arts world, they are trying to be new voices in the art world. It really resonates with who we are as a gallery. The Guerrilla Girls were already discussing the representation disparity in 1985, and, 40 years later, nothing has changed. It’s important for us to drive the changes we’re trying to embody.”

Hypercuration has also allowed Alday Hunken to stage exhibitions that would be impossible in a conventional space. One standout was in Mexico City, where they combined AI-generated projections with physical works. “We had this 30-meter-high wall where we projected some of the work, facing one of the most crowded streets in Mexico,” Hunken recalls. “It worked. People stayed for hours. It was more like a party.” 

That contagious energy is not an accident. For Hunken and Alday, the success of the show depends greatly on the relationships and ideas that make it possible. “We really like to work with people who want to collaborate with us. We don’t just want to work with somebody because we think we’re going to sell,” Hunken says. “I’d like to see more of this work in places that are more open—museums, institutions, public art—places people can actually go and see it.” That spirit of collaboration extends to their “sister project” in Mexico City, Trastienda Machete, which nurtures emerging artists at the very start of their careers. “Without that project, we wouldn’t have a base for Alday Hunken,” Hunken says. “Sometimes you can lose a generation of artists just because the gallery disappears.”

Mariana Paniagua: Left: La Despedida Oil and encaustic on canvas 155cm x 150cm Right: Untitled Oil on canvas 160cm x 150cm

It’s a foundation that has allowed the gallery to grow at remarkable speed. In just under a year, Alday Hunken Gallery has staged exhibitions in Atlanta and Mexico City, shown at Scope Miami, and been invited to the Venice Biennale. But the founders view this as just the beginning. “I’d like to see more of our artists’ work in contexts where it connects socially, culturally, politically,” Alday says. “In five years, I’d like Alday Hunken Gallery to be seen as a gallery creating connections where people don’t expect them anymore… a project that changes not only the art world but the world stage.”

For Hunken, the vision includes expanding into entirely new territories. “One of my dreams is to show some of this work in Asia. It’s a place that resonates with me personally, and I’d love to see it there.” As they continue building bridges between cities and cultures, the cousins are determined to keep their mission at the center. “If I can help people showcase their talent,” Alday says, “then that’s what I want to do.”

To learn more about Alday Hunken Gallery and their upcoming exhibitions, please visit their website here and follow them on Instagram @aldayhunkengallery.