Yvon Lambert, one of France’s best-known contemporary-art dealers, is opening a space in London on October 16. The city’s “history, energy and contemporary relevance” attracted Lambert, explains his worldwide director, Olivier Belot. So what better place to set up shop than a Victorian municipal building in Hoxton, the cutting-edge center of artistic activity in the city’s East End?

Situated in a 7,000- square-foot former school, next to White Cube, the gallery will launch with “Subconscious City,” an exhibition of new work by the Mexican artist Carlos Amorales. The show is based, the artist says, on his recurrent dream of being lost in a big city. Among the works is a large model of a huge metropolis, complete with tiny architectural details, that when viewed from above resembles a giant spider’s web.

A veteran of the contemporary-art scene, Lambert opened his first Paris gallery in 1966; since then he has represented hundreds of artists, including Joseph Beuys, Nan Goldin and Andres Serrano. In 2000 he put together the Collection Lambert in Avignon to showcase 350 works from his private collection.

Judging by his Hoxton location and its debut show, Lambert knows what direction the art world is taking. As Belot puts it: “Having an Yvon Lambert in London was an absolute given.” "Urban Attraction" originally appeared in the October 2008 issue of Art+Auction. For a complete list of articles from this issue available on ARTINFO, see Art+Auction's October 2008 Table of Contents.