Alberto Lenz
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Yambu is a particular form of Afro-Cuban dance, one of three dances that comprise La Rumba. It starts slowly and tells the musical story of an old man, crippled by age, who begins to dance with a young woman, who seductively breathes youth back into him.

I was already very familiar with San Miguel, having family here for some 25 years, and, also, having living a really wild life when visiting here, in places where the cracks of light are not generally known. Some might say too wild, and they would be correct. Somewhat paradoxically, it is also the place where I got clean and sober. Along with the art community, the clean and sober community was a big draw to my decision to establish Yambu Gallery here. Another large personal factor in my decision to set down creative roots here is my having learned gem cutting in San Miguel decades ago.

Literally every form of the arts is represented here in San Miguel. There are Mexicans and expats, who are serious supporters of the arts in all its forms. We intend to explore all those forms at Yambu.

Alberto Lescay Merencio
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Enlisting the aid of a long time friend, architect Alberto Casmer, I set out to find a suitable piece of land to build out this project. With San Miguel growing so rapidly, space is at a premium. So, when Alberto said he knew of property in colonia San Antonio with enough space to accommodate my vision, we went to look.

When we did, the first thing that drew me in was the shape of the land, not square or rectangular, but more of a dog leg. With just over 1500 square meters, it had a row of brick structures, of which, in the end, only the foundations were salvageable. The yard was waist deep in a mixture of, for lack of a better term, "used things" and weeds. Even then, even through the debris I could envision the sculpture garden, there and complete.

The sculpture garden required containment walls and extensive leveling. Taking some two years to complete, in the end it has become a clean canvas to work with. Utilizing two levels and lots of stonework, including a green stone exclusive to the State of Guanajuato, one of many benefits of the property's shape and size and shape will be to host small events and concerts with groups from Cuba and USA, where I have homes and business ventures as well as.

Alberto Lenz
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The gallery itself is nothing more than a cube style, designed for the sole purpose of showing works of art. There are no interior design elements, no windows, no plants, just simple space. Yambu is not an  entity that even remotely wants to steer anyone into acquiring art to match the drapes or carpet or color scheme. We are art for art's sake.

Yambu Gallery is only open to the public during our grand opening evening. Other than that my time is dedicated to putting together personal private events and private showings.

We have an extensive list of international artists for these upcoming, invitation-only events. Also, I am very excited about our O Salon Sur which will be open to the artistic community as a whole.

Alberto Lescay Merencio

Show #1
Yambu Gallery Privada
Thursday, October 10, 6pm
Las Palmas 11, Colonia San Antonio
RSVP: yambugallery@gmail.com

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