We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful co-founders of Alday Hunken Gallery: Alfonso Alday and Vai Jong Hunken. We hope you enjoy our conversation with Alfonso Alday below.

Hi Alfonso and Vai, is your business focused on helping the community? If so, how?
Our gallery director, Vai Jong Hunken, and I—Alfonso, the CEO of the project—were both raised by strong, independent, fiercely intelligent women. That personal foundation has become a core part of our mission, we are committed tackling the ongoing gender imbalance in the art world. Back in 1985, the Guerrilla Girls called out how women were barely present in major museum shows—just 13 out of 169 artists in MoMA’s International Survey, to be exact. And it’s shocking how little has changed. The Burns Halperin Report from 2022 found that, in the U.S., only 11% of acquisitions and 14% of exhibitions in museums between 2008 and 2020 featured work by women artists.
While this history informs our values, our response is not limited to gender disparity alone. At Alday Hunken Gallery, we are committed to presenting contemporary art that interrogates identity, cultural context, and the environment—regardless of the artist’s gender.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
Something that sets us apart is the fact that our gallery project is itinerant and does not have a physical space in Atlanta – only Mexico City, this means that we depend entirely on collaborations with other established fine art galleries. This is a very exciting challenge because other galleries will only work with us if we consistently deliver shows with engaging, innovative curation and a level of intellectual rigour that resonates beyond aesthetics—grounded in research, cultural inquiry, and conceptual clarity.
We aim to champion practices that push boundaries and deepen dialogue across mediums, disciplines, and geographies. By doing so, we hope to empower underrepresented voices, yes—but also create space for unexpected perspectives and urgent conversations that shape how we see the world today. We want the world to know that we aim to shake up the Atlanta Art Scene and help get it to the place it deserves as a fine arts hub in the US.
Getting to where we are today wasn’t easy. We started with little more than an idea and a conviction: that a gallery could be both intellectually rigorous and radically collaborative. We’ve faced the usual challenges—funding, logistics, navigating a saturated art landscape—but we’ve also had to constantly prove ourselves without a traditional brick-and-mortar presence in Atlanta. We overcame those hurdles by building trust: with artists, curators, and galleries who see the depth of our vision and the quality of our execution.
What we’re most proud of is that every show we’ve done—whether in a white cube or a shared space—has felt intentional, alive, and necessary. We’ve built something meaningful across borders, and we’re only getting started.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
If my best friend were visiting Atlanta for a week, I’d want them to experience the city the way I see it—layered, surprising, full of small moments that stay with you.
We’d start with dinner at Bocca Lupo. The black spaghetti is basically a rite of passage, and the whole place has that perfect balance between casual and intentional. After that, we’d head over to Estoria—it’s just down the street and always feels like the kind of bar where you can have one drink or five, depending on the conversation.
The next morning would begin slowly, with coffee at Chrome Yellow. It’s one of those places where the light hits just right, and people are always working on something interesting. We’d sit outside for a bit, get our bearings, maybe map out the day without any real urgency.
Later, we’d stop by Antidote—a small, well-curated fashion store that always has something surprising. Their collection feels considered, intimate even, and it’s one of those places where you find something meaningful without having planned to.
From there, we’d head to the Atlanta Aquarium. It’s such a surreal space—walking beneath a whale shark has a way of making everything feel a little quieter, a little more expansive. Lunch at Il Premio would follow—understated, thoughtful, and always good for lingering.
Midweek, I’d bring them to Gaja—playful, low-lit, and quietly cool. It’s the kind of place that feels like a local secret, even though everyone worth knowing already knows about it. We’d pair that with a few studio visits or gallery stops—Atlanta’s art scene is more alive than people give it credit for, especially around Castleberry Hill and West End.
At some point, we’d take a long walk through the park, pass by Carroll Street Café for a glass of wine or something sweet, and eventually land at Milltown Arms—a dive spot in the best way. No pretence, just the kind of place where stories get told and people still talk to strangers at the bar.
What I love about this city, is that it doesn’t beg for attention—but if you’re paying attention, it gives you everything. Good food. Good people. Art that catches you off guard. Quiet corners that make you feel like you’ve found something special – that’s Atlanta. Atlanta is, in many ways, the definition of magical realism.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Absolutely, there are 2 Atlanta based artists who helped us kickstart our project and gave us the platform, advice, and support required for the amazing start that we have had! Their names are Kristen Giorgi and Sheyda Mehrara, the minds behind Impossible Currency in Buckhead Village. We would also love to shoutout Madison Dailey, director of Memento Gallery who hosted our second show in Atlanta, Speculative Futures!

Website: https://aldayhunken.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aldayhunkengallery/?hl=en

Other: https://www.instagram.com/alfonsoaava/?hl=en
https://www.instagram.com/vaijonghunken/?hl=en
https://inpursuitof.substack.com
https://vaihunken.substack.com

Image Credits
Kael Vox
Estefania Viyella
Ileana Moreno
Mariana Paniagua

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