The Hunter’s Dream by  Juan Araujo from  Galeria Luisa Strina, one of the Brazilian art galleries at Art Basel       

ART FAIR-ART BASEL

Five Brazilian art galleries are presenting artworks by emerging and famous Brazilian artists at Art Basel as part of an effort to bring attention to the burgeoning art scene in Brazil.

BY KAZEEM ADELEKE

BRAZIL– Five Brazilian art galleries are participating at this year’s Art Basel in Switzerland. The art galleries are members of Latitude, a Platform for Brazilian Art Galleries Abroad. The platform is a partnership between the Brazilian Association of Contemporary Art Galleries (ABACT) and the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex-Brasil). The participating galleries are: A Gentil Carioca (Rio de Janeiro), Galeria Luisa Strina (São Paulo), Bergamin & Gomide (São Paulo), Fortes D’Aloia & Gabriel (São Paulo) and Mendes Wood DM(São Paulo / Brussels).

The five Brazilian art galleries join 290 galleries from across the globe, showing works of over 4,000 artists. Brazilian art galleries, like other galleries, presented exceptional artworks by emerging and famous artists from Brazil and around the world.  

Brazilian Art Galleries at Art Basel

A Gentil Carioca is presenting Total Eclipse of the Ear, an exhibition that addresses “the special circumstance in which we find ourselves, in a world that struggles to heal itself, both in the human and non-human domains.” The show was created in partnership with the artist Vivian Caccuri. It highlights how listening to each other can lead to empathy, healing, and collective responsibility. Total Eclipse of the Ear also includes works by Agrade Camíz, Aleta Valente, Ana Linnemann, Arjan Martins, Cabelo, Jarbas Lopes, João Modé, and José Bento. Others are  Laura Lima, Marcela Cantuária, Maria Laet, Maria Nepomuceno, Maxwell Alexandre, OPAVIVARÁ!, Renata Lucas, Rodrigo Torres, Vinicius Gerheim, and Vivian Caccuri.

Galeria Luisa Strina (São Paulo) & Bergamin & Gomide (São Paulo)

These Brazilian art galleries have teamed up for this year’s presentation at Art Basel. They are presenting works by important Brazilian artists dating from the 1950s to the current period. The list includes Hélio Oiticica, Lygia Clark, Antonio Dias, Cildo Meireles, Anna Maria Maiolino, Fernanda Gomes, Mira Schendel Hélio Oiticica, Lygia Clark, Antonio Dias, Cildo Meireles, Anna Maria Maiolino, Fernanda Gomes, Mira Schendel, Amélia Toledo, Amadeo Luciano Lorenzato, Marcel Broodthaers, Marcius Galan, Alexandre da Cunha, Tonico Lemos Auad, Juan Araújo, Francisco Brennand, Maria Lira Marques, Alex Cerveny.

The galleries also have on display The Hunter’s Dream, an installation by  Juan Araujo The work explores the relationship between Renzo Piano’s architecture and Ernst Beyeler’s collection of indigenous African art. Consisting of paintings and projections, the installation is in a bespoke pavilion designed by Araujo to replicate the museum’s modernist structure.

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Born in 1971 in Caracas, Juan Araujo has for the past 20 years devoted himself to the interrogation of the history of Western culture, art history, and modernism by creating hyper-realistic paintings based on found images. Araujo lives and works in Lisbon.

Fortes D’Aloia & Gabriel (São Paulo)

Formed 20 years ago, Galeria Fortes Vilaça has a dynamic program that features around 15 exhibitions a year. The gallery represents 40 artists, of whom 32 are Brazilian. At this year’s Art Basel, the gallery is presenting works by the artists it represents, including  Márcia Fortes, Alessandra D’Aloia and Alexandre Gabriel, Sheroanawe Hakihiiwe, Lucia Laguna, Jac Leirner, Robert Mapplethorpe, Ernesto Neto, Rivane Neuenschwander, and Lygia Pape. Others are Wanda Pimentel, Mauro Restiffe, Marina Rheingantz, Valeska Soares, Janaina Tschäpe, Adriana Varejão, Erika Verzutti and Yuli Yamagata.

Mendes Wood DM (São Paulo/Brussels)

Founded in 2010 by partners Felipe Dmab, Matthew Wood and Pedro Mendes, Mendes Wood DM is one of Brazil’s top galleries. The gallery focuses on exhibiting international and Brazilian artists in a context conducive to critical dialogue and cross-pollination.  Mendes Wood DM  is presenting Untitled 2019, an installation piece by Solange Pessoa. Untitled consists of five large, bronze-cast shapes that shimmer like black lava solidified after being expelled from the ground. Surrounding the large casts are 180 kg of real grapes.

Solange Pessoa was born in 1961 in Ferros, Brazil. The artist draws inspiration from the heritage of late Brazilian Baroque art. She replaces the sprawling excess of gold and marble with natural, raw materials that include shells, stones, plants, and wood. Pessoa’s work addresses contrasting concepts such as landscape and culture, or ancient and contemporary, but also growth and decay. She lives and works in Belo Horizonte, Brazil.

Other artists whose works are also on display include Lucas Arruda, Alma Allen, Paloma Bosquê, Heidi Bucher, and Michael Dean. Also on display are works by Sonia Gomes. Vojtěch Kovařík, Mimi Lauter, Patricia Leite, Amadeo Luciano Lorenzato, and Matthew Lutz-Kinoy. Others are Daniel Steegmann Mangrané, Paulo Monteiro, Cassi Namoda, Paulo Nazareth, Antonio Obá, Rosana Paulino, Solange Pessoa, Luiz Roque, Paula Siebra, Marina Perez Simão and Rubem Valentim.

Emerging and famous Brazilian artists are getting their due attention at this year’s Art Basel courtesy of five Brazilian art galleries. Do you have a favorite Brazilian artist? Share your thoughts. Leave a comment.