It’s been a pretty hectic day for Rodrigo Hernández. Tiro al Blanco, the contemporary art space he founded in 2012, has just held an open house that drew dozens of collectors and visitors to its location—La Sagrada Familia, 833 Juan Álvarez Street, Guadalajara—starting very early in the morning. Even so, he makes time to chat with Art Weekends. Before we begin, he asks for a few minutes: he has to step out to attend to one of his clients. “Have a drink,” he tells me.
I choose a drink with a telling name: “dirty orangeade.” In addition to citrus, it contains espresso and plenty of ice. I sip it slowly while I wait. It’s a welcome treat on an afternoon when the Guadalajara sun seems to have grown particularly harsh.
The gallery also features a dining area whose offerings are on par with the artistic program: drinks, meals, and unique snacks, along with a carefully curated music selection. Two “naranjadas sucias” later, Rodrigo returns, ready for the interview.
“If you weren’t Rodrigo Hernández, the gallery owner, but an artist looking to exhibit at Tiro al Blanco, how would you see yourself?” I ask him. “I don’t know. To be honest, it’s something that’s never really mattered to me. I hope it’s in a positive way, from the heart, but it’s a topic that rarely crosses my mind.”
The question arises because, at the start of our conversation, Rodrigo made it clear to me that he has always avoided the cult of personality. He prefers to stay in the background and let the artworks and the artists take center stage: “A gallery’s project must have an identity, but it is the art and the artists who should speak.”
“ We are a link. Sometimes that gets lost sight of, and the gallery wants to take center stage.”
“We are a link. Sometimes that gets lost sight of, and the gallery wants to take center stage.”
He clarifies that he is not referring exclusively to Tiro al Blanco, but rather to a trend he perceives in the gallery scene in general.
After more than a decade of work, the gallery owner believes the project has reached a stage of consolidation. “It has indeed matured. I see it in the processes and developments of local artists. I also feel that today I have the ability to engage in different kinds of dialogues and develop new initiatives. It’s a natural process: things come together through daily work.”
Target Shooting: A Well-Balanced System
Interestingly, his background is far removed from the conventions of art history. Before becoming a gallery owner, Rodrigo dreamed of a very different career. “Like many Mexicans, I wanted to be a professional soccer player. I played for a third-division team run by people connected to Atlas and the UdeG. In the end, I chose to focus on my studies and earned a degree in finance.”
However, over time she found ways to build on that training: “Back in 2017, I had the opportunity to gain professional experience in certain aspects of art consulting at Sotheby’s in New York, which, combined with what you mentioned and my primary interest in art as it relates to society and people, created a more balanced whole. I think that’s also evident in the fact that, in addition to art, there are other parallel interests, such as gastronomy.”
Without a doubt, that unusual combination has shaped the way he understands the cultural sector. “I didn’t have the opportunity to study curation formally, so in that sense, I’m pretty much self-taught. I don’t know if finance gives you a particular perspective that helps you successfully bring all the things you love to life, but there’s also a part of it that has to do with economic reality.”
In fact, the project’s sustainability was a priority from the very beginning: “When the project launched, the primary goal was to stay afloat—to avoid financial collapse—because I knew it could take several months for a project to gain traction.”
Currently, Tiro al Blanco follows a philosophy that prioritizes local initiatives: “The 2020 fair was my last one outside of Guadalajara. That’s when I became aware of certain financial realities—I realized that building the gallery’s and artists’ careers through global fairs was a significant expense. I had to scale back a bit in that regard, but we plan to return to certain fair circuits outside of Mexico in the near future.”
In 2026, Tiro al Blanco participated in Condo in Mexico City; it will also be present at the Guadalajara Material Fair, among other projects.
How does Tiro al Blanco select the works it exhibits?
The selection of artists is a topic that creators are often interested in: how does a gallery like Tiro al Blanco choose which works to exhibit? “The selection process is based on the work itself,” Rodrigo says. “I’ve worked with very, very young artists. For example, Iván Estrada. I came across him through a curator’s recommendation, and he was still studying at the Cabañas Museum when I started working with him.”
In target shooting as a sport, the goal is always to hit the mark. But you can also miss. “How do you deal with those mistakes?” I ask him: “In the ecosystem we’re all part of, everyone wants to get it right—from the artist in the creation process, to the collector in the acquisition process, to the gallery in its advisory role. Curators in putting together exhibitions. So, sometimes you get it right and sometimes you don’t. And that’s part of life, isn’t it? There’s no such thing as perfection or a 100% success rate, so time reveals where we can improve and where we’ve gotten it right.”
Before wrapping up the conversation, Rodrigo wants to mention that his partner’s support has been crucial: “She was a huge support in helping me take the plunge into becoming a gallery owner. While I was working elsewhere, I decided to quit; so I went to my wife and told her I had no money. We were newlyweds, 26 years old, and she was the one who said to me, ‘I’m behind you,’ and we took the plunge.”
More interviews, more galleries, and more contemporary art in AW Magazine.
