Benjamín Fernández Galindo first discovered his passion for art in his aunt’s gallery in Oaxaca, Mexico. There, he was captivated by the works of Rufino Tamayo, Francisco Toledo, and Rodolfo Morales, renowned contemporary Mexican artists who helped establish Oaxaca as a hub for traditional folk art. His journey as a collector began when he acquired his first piece from the gallery in exchange for consulting work. Within two years, his collection had grown to include forty more pieces. Now, 25 years later, Benjamín has amassed one of Mexico’s largest and most diverse art collections. Yet, for him, collecting is not enough–he is driven to find ways to share his appreciation for Mexican art and culture with others. 

Benjamín eventually left consulting to focus on his portfolio of entrepreneurial businesses, which soon converged with his fascination for art. In 2008, he launched Black Coffee Gallery, a hybrid coffee shop and art gallery experience that pairs two of Mexico’s artistic traditions: Oaxaca coffee sourced from the Pluma Hidalgo region and his collection of contemporary Mexican art. “In Mexico, art is difficult to get to,” explains Benjamín. “Many people don’t want to go to the museums or the galleries because they are far away or they think they need money to buy art and it will be expensive. So through Black Coffee, we started to bring art to the people.” Customers can enjoy a traditional café de olla, spiced with cinnamon, piloncillo, anise, and orange, while browsing the work of native artists like Yuri Zatarain and Ismael Vargas. 

But it wasn’t enough for Benjamín to show the art. He wanted customers to appreciate the artists, their stories, and their craft. Each Black Coffee art installation includes free postcards featuring the displayed artwork and a short biography of the artist, which customers can take and collect. Additionally, every year, the company selects one artist to spotlight, creating a book that showcases their art and raises awareness of their work. Benjamín believes that Black Coffee Gallery has influenced the public’s attitude toward art. “Here in Guadalajara, I think we have changed people because they have started to go to the museums. They have started to go to the galleries and buy art.” 

Benjamín’s Black Coffee Gallery collection now includes an estimated 8,000 pieces. He has run out of walls in his offices, homes, and coffee shops to display art. However, he is also nearing completion of a project that will share his passion for art on a much grander scale. In 2012, Benjamín founded the nonprofit Museo Internacional de Arte (MINART) Foundation, to house, preserve, and research the Black Coffee Gallery Foundation’s collection. In 2017, construction began on a 13-story, 60,000-square-foot MINART museum in Zapopan, Jalisco, which he hopes to complete next year. Unlike many museums in Mexico, which are housed in 18th-century buildings that cannot be climate-controlled, MINART will be a state-of-the-art institution, housing, displaying, and promoting Mexican art, including the Black Coffee Gallery Foundation’s collection. The museum, which has already hosted a fashion show, will celebrate art in all forms and is designed to be a community resource. “This will be the most important library in Guadalajara,” Benjamín notes. “We will have almost 10,000 books from contemporary art, architecture, and fashion.”

Benjamín is not done collecting, and he has expanded his scope of interest to include artists from inside and outside Mexico as well. His collection contains almost a hundred pieces by Chuck Close, and at 450 pieces, he has the world’s most extensive Rufino Tamayo collection. Even though Benjamín’s collection is growing, he never buys a piece of art just because it’s a good investment. “I think the eyes of people who like art have to change with the years,” he muses, noting that he no longer likes some of his early acquisitions. Now, he heeds the advice that his aunt gave him years ago when he had just started collecting, and he only buys pieces that he loves to look at. “I started to buy the work of very good artists because I have another set of eyes to see art now.” 

In addition to raising the profile of native artists in Mexico, Benjamín hopes to accomplish that goal closer to home as well. His three teenage daughters have grown up surrounded by art and visited museums around the world. Despite this exposure, his daughters are now less enthusiastic about museum visits. “My daughters don’t want to go to the museums anymore–they’ve had enough,” he admits. Yet his passion for art keeps him determined. “Over Thanksgiving, we are going to Monterrey, where there’s a very good museum. I’m going to take them!”