ARTISTS
The Armory Show puts its 'Focus' on Latin American art
An invitation-only component of the fair, it features a selection of galleries from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, and Venezuela.
黑料不打烊
02 Mar, 2011
With a steady wave of art centers, galleries, and artists taking the market by storm, it is more than evident that Latin American art is on the rise. Thanks to globalization, this genre is fast becoming a strategic economic resource and favorite commodity in the current art market. The presence of hundreds of the art world鈥檚 top figures at the 51st Sao Paulo Biennial last year reflects the rising level of interest in this category. According to Sotheby's, about 50% of their buyers from this sector hail from the US, Europe and Southeast Asia.
Also taking notice of Latin American art鈥檚 rising popularly is The Armory Show and its Focus program that provides an annual platform for one of the world鈥檚 thriving arts communities. After featuring Berlin in 2010, the show's second edition of Armory Focus has turned its attention to Latin America. An invitation-only component of the fair, it features a selection of galleries from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, and Venezuela. 鈥淣ew York City has long been a center of Latin American art,鈥� says Katelijne De Backer, Armory Show executive director. 鈥淎rmory Focus: Latin America will highlight this vital force in the city鈥檚鈥攁nd the world鈥檚鈥攁rt scene.鈥� Click here to view our top 10 list of things to do during Armory week
黑料不打烊 spoke with several leading gallery directors 鈥� Patricia Bessudo of in Mexico, Marcio Botner of A Gentil Carioca in Brazil, Ignacio Liprandi of in Argentina and Isabel Aninat Ureta of Galer铆a Isabel Aninat in Chile - all of which are first-timers at The Armory Show.
All agree that Latin American art has evolved into a global market hot spot. 鈥淭he world is looking to Latin America as a new place for investment and a cultural spot as never before because of its fresh and different worldview. For Latin America, art fairs like Armory are important because they allow us to show our art forms in a more globalized world,鈥� says Aninat Utera. 鈥淥n this occasion, not being labelled and segmented as Latin American art is a great opportunity to show that our artists create dynamic and innovative proposals without leaving behind the cultural baggage that we carry.鈥�
Denise Lira-Ratinoff
Water
Isabel Aninat Gallery
Bessudo concurs: 鈥淐ontemporary Latin American art has had significant growth in recent years and I am sure projects such as the Focus: Latin America section of The Armory will have very positive effects on this growth and will generate interest and exposure in the market. Still, I strongly believe that Latin American art will become more a part of our current globalized world, thus making us less inclined to categorize it or separate it by its geographic location.鈥�
The most important market of the region is Brazil, where according to one report, it produces an annual turnover of $122 million, growing at 50% a year in the last decade. Free entry to museums has dramatically increased awareness while new galleries are opening at a rapid pace. To top things off, more than 1 million are expected to attend the Sao Paulo Biennial. The 7th Edition of SP-Arte later this year will host a record 87 exhibitors in one of the top art fairs in Latin America.
Gustavo Artigas
Risk Paintings (Green)
Caja Blanca
One of Brazil鈥檚 most respected galleries is A Gentil Carioca. According to Botner, 鈥淪ince the late 80s, starting from the success of important art dealers such as Marcoantonio Vilaca, Brazilian art has continually gained international exposure. It is also important to note that Brazil hosts the second oldest international Biennial, second only to Venice. Therefore, I believe it has been the case of a continual process of what I believe is most important to art: the mixture and the collaborations. I would also like to highlight the current economic moment of prosperity which has helped, having great artists renowned internationally and lastly, the development of a bustling community of galleries, artists and collectors.鈥�
Liprandi has an interesting take on the rise of Latin American Art. "There has been an important number of excellent artists in Latin America for years, what has changed is the appreciation for them and this has to do with demographics in America, namely the growing economic and political weight of the Latin American population in the US and how this pushes American museums to show and collect more and more Latin artists, as they can麓t turn their backs to the communities where they are based."
To coincide with the program, Armory has expanded the range of Latin American-themed events in its citywide and Armory Circle program, and has commissioned Mexican artist Gabriel Kuri to create the visual identity for the 2011 fair. Kuri is renowned for sculptures and collages made from the remains of everyday purchases and found objects, reconfiguring meaning from tickets and receipts (see image below), retail supplies and slabs of marble, stones and other incongruous materials.
Which artists鈥� work are the galleries bringing to New York? Caja Blanca is presenting the work of one artist, Gustavo Artigas, with part of a series entitled Risk Paintings, a long-term project including several pieces that explore the concept of toxicity of the materials used in the art creative processes.
Ignacio Liprandi is bringing two artists to Armory: Adriana Bustos, recently invited to be part of the next Istanbul Biennial, and who has, since 2007, worked on a single subject: drugs in Latin America; and Tomas Espina, who manipulates images from TV news usually linked to either military, social, or political conflicts, using gunpowder in the process (see top image of article).
A Gentil Carioca is featuring two new pieces by Lourival Cuquinha, who has been exploring the question of the art of economics and has created especially for The Armory Show a flag made entirely out of dollar bills; and Maria Nepomuceno, whose new abstract sculpture in her traditional medium of woven ropes and beads has a strong connection to traditional Brazilian sculpture. 鈥淚 would also like to highlight The Bar by Jose Bento (see image below), a piece composed of 100 wooden shot glasses and bottles of Cachaca, a traditional Brazilian liquor. The same wood used to make the cups is the same one used to brew the Cachaca and viewers are welcome to sample the liquor from the cup thus enhancing the experience,鈥� says Botner.
Jose Bento
The Bar
Gallery A Gentil Carioca
The strategy of Isabel Aninat Gallery is to select featured artists with high quality such as Lotty Rosenfeld and Ivan Contreras-Brunet, and offer their work at an affordable price for collectors.
Lotty Rosenfeld, who was recently in the MoMA exhibition On Line: Drawing Through the Twentieth Century, has been characterized as a political artist. For most of her career she chose not to take part in the commercial side of art but today Isabel Aninat Gallery is privileged and honored to be able to represent her, Aninat Utera says.
The Chilean gallery is also bringing work by Ivan Contreras-Brunet, a kinetic artist contemporary to Soto and Cruz-Diez; his works can be found in large collections at museums like the Pompidou Center in Paris, Yomiuri in Tokyo Japan Foundation, the Museum of Houston etc., although he has maintained a low profile that has allowed collectors today to become interested in his work.
Ivan Contreras-Brunet
Irisation mobile
Red acrlicio on wood and metal
Isabel Aninat Gallery
Furthermore, the gallery features young talents like Pedro Tyler, Colectivo en Memoria and Denise Lira-Ratinoff, who have attracted interest locally and internationally.
Written by 黑料不打烊.com staff
Top Image:
TOM脕S ESPINA
Untitled, 2010
Gunpowder on paper
43 x 59 in.
