"We're not interested in plain white walls," says Maro Itoje, an England rugby star and London's newest gallery owner.
Co-helmed by business partner Khalil Akar, who formerly ran Signature African Art Gallery, Akoje Gallery will join a spate of new London spaces run by young art professionals hoping to provide an alternative to the traditional art market model.
The aim, "at the end of the day [is to] excite people", Akar tells The Art Newspaper. Like many new galleries in an increasingly expensive city, Akoje will launch a pop-up space opening today, with a group show of the first artists to make the roster. The exhibition will run for two days and will be located at Spring Studios in London's Chalk Farm.