10 Must-Visit Art Galleries in Chile

Founded by owners María Elena Comandari and Rosita Lira in 1995, Galeria Artespacio focuses on the promotion and dissemination of modern art through sculpture – one of Chile’s most popular mediums – and also serves as a platform for contemporary painters and photographers.

Established in 1995 by the international curator Ana Maria Stagno, AMS Marlborough is housed in a building that was designed by Christian de Groote, winner of the National Prize of Architecture in 1993. The gallery has exhibited works by world-renowned artists alongside a selection of emerging and established local artists.

Having presented the work of over 200 artists since its opening in 2005, the Santiago-based Galeria AFA is dedicated to supporting both emerging as well as established Chilean artists. The gallery space is also occasionally used to hold art retail markets.

Located in an old government warehouse in Santiago, founded as part of a local revitalisation project, the Centro Cultural Matucana 100 is a popular art centre that houses a spacious gallery as well as a theatre, used to screen films and host concerts. The venue has twice hosted the Chilean Altazor Awards, an annual art prize.

Galeria Animal was established in 2000 as a way to inform a wider audience of current art trends and was housed in a specially designed exhibition space. The gallery has recently changed its location to a new venue to promote and develop contemporary art collections in the capital of Santiago. The newly relocated Galeria Animal opened its doors with an exhibition displaying a collection of works by world-renowned artists such as Pablo Picasso, Joan Miró, Alfredo Jaar, Gonzalo Cienfuegos and Roberto Matta, alongside other widely-respected artists.

Dating back to 1983, the Isabel Aninat Galeria De Arte in Santiago is the country’s oldest art gallery and dedicated to promoting Chilean and international contemporary artists. Over the years, the gallery has held exhibitions of works from Roberto Matta, Joan Miró and Antoni Gaudí.

Located in the coastal city of Viña del Mar, the Mar Pau Art Gallery focuses on contemporary Chilean painting, exhibiting a selection of the country’s rising artists, while also showing a number of neo-batik and religious artworks.

Since 1999, Galeria De Arte Cecilia Palma in Santiago has displayed and sold the works of over 500 established and emerging artists. The gallery is also known for its regular art contests and events and has produced over 30 books on Chilean art since its opening.

Opened in 2008 and designed by the architects Luis Izquierdo and Antonia Lehmann, the Patricia Ready Galeria in Santiago is one of the country’s leading art galleries that also boasts a cinema and space for seminars. As part of the gallery’s commitment to the promotion of the arts, a number of scholarships are offered to young, emerging talents.

With its vision to provide free and non-discriminating access to culture via a number of visual art exhibitions, the Fundacion Telefonica Art Gallery has become a popular gallery since its opening in 1996 in Santiago, with nearly 2 million people having passed through its doors.