A pioneering art gallery will open in Tulum, designed to foster creativity, awareness, and vision in the Yucatan peninsula by showcasing a roster of prominent international artists. Created by Jorge Eduardo Neira Sterkel, owner and CEO of Azulik, IK LAB promises to present art in Tulum in the most extraordinary way.
Santiago Rumney Guggenheim, Director of IK LAB, commented: “My history with Tulum is deep-rooted, and this project is very close to my heart.” Santiago continued, “IK LAB is more than a gallery, it aspires to provide a framework for the world’s finest creative minds to interact with the gallery’s visionary architecture and explore new ways of creation.”
IK LAB was conceived as a place to create unprecedented cultural experiences for both Tulum’s expanding local community and international visitors by presenting groundbreaking contemporary art exhibitions. Located within the natural resort Azulik, IK LAB’s architecture draws inspiration from its natural surroundings and redefines the relationship between art and its physical environment. Through its environmentally conscious design, a bespoke circle of artists, and avant-garde residency program, IK LAB transcends the traditional confines of the art experience. The space captures the quintessence of the Yucatan peninsula’s abundant nature and rich spiritual heritage, projecting it into the future as an inspiration and model for communities beyond.
Entering through IK LAB’s wooden and glass doors, reaching 4 meters tall, visitors are elevated into another dimension. The perspective and uncanny scale of the space create a sense of vast infinity,
while its curves foster a sensation of warmth and protection. Visitors are invited to walk barefoot through the gallery and to interact with the floor as a living organism, experiencing the transition from cool, polished cement to the warm to raw wooden floors in bejuco wood, a vine-like plant native to the region. External sounds are muted, causing each step to reverberate and echo throughout the space making the visitors fully conscious of their own physical presence. Circular windows set into the impressive, geometrically patterned dome illuminate the gallery, serving as portals to the surrounding jungle and sky. Breaking with the traditional white-cube gallery experience, the space fortifies the organic relationship between art, the viewer and the environment.
Photo . Fernando Artigas, courtesy of IK LAB
