Gallery DeFi is a 16,000-square-foot contemporary art gallery in West Dallas, created by more than 50 artists from 11 countries. Across the building, murals, immersive rooms, sculpture, painting, photography, fashion, light and sound live alongside original work visitors can collect.
DeFi exists because artists should have more say in how their work is shown, sold and experienced. Visitors can walk through the work, meet the people behind it, buy something, commission something new or simply spend time with it.
2200 Evanston Ave · West Dallas16,000 square feet · 50+ artists · 11 countries
Why Gallery DeFi exists.
Gallery DeFi grew out of the day-to-day work of making, installing and selling art. It was built from inside an artist’s practice, so the gallery started with the needs of artists and the people who want to experience or collect their work.
The artists did not arrive after the gallery was finished. They helped make it. Their walls, rooms, installations and individual works turned a former manufacturing building into a place that changes as new work and new projects enter it.
That is still the model: artists shape how work is presented, visitors can meet the people behind it, and an exhibition can lead to a sale, a commission, a public artwork or a collaboration beyond the building.
Building the gallery · February 2023
What the artists built.
Murals, sculpture and exhibition walls.Painted instruments and neon.Original works on the gallery walls.
Leah Kirsch creating her black-and-white room at Gallery DeFi
The artists make DeFi.
More than 50 artists from 11 countries work across painting, sculpture, photography, murals, fashion, design, light, sound and immersive installation. Some built entire rooms. Others show individual works, editions and objects throughout the gallery.
The relationship does not end at the wall. Gallery DeFi connects artists with collectors, commissions, public art, hospitality projects, brand collaborations and other opportunities, then helps carry the work through production and installation.
Travis McCann works as not.travis across painting, photography, murals, sculpture, neon, fashion, jewelry, digital media and immersive installation. He began working with Kyle in 2020 across art, production, installations and sales. That working relationship became the foundation for Gallery DeFi.
As creative director, Travis works with artists on the rooms, exhibitions, presentation of work, commissions and the experience of moving through the gallery.
Kyle Sauter began working with Travis in 2020, building the operation around the not.travis practice and helping carry artwork and installations from idea through sale and delivery. Together they spent more than two years converting the former manufacturing building at 2200 Evanston Ave into Gallery DeFi.
As director of operations, Kyle leads agreements, production, staffing, artist coordination, events and partnerships across the gallery.
Walk through the installations, see original work up close or come to an event. If you’re interested in a piece, a commission or a private viewing, get in touch with the gallery.
