ART PILGRIMAGE SAO PAULO
When it comes to the city’s artworld, a life of and she can be counted on for opinionated
random event-hopping would be possible but exchanges. She represents a solid array of artists
all too decadent. Instead, it’s more useful to ranging from heavyweight Cildo Meireles,
think of paulistano art as a means of necessary a household name in Brazil, and Marepe,
research into the city and its environments, and a wonderfully dexterous critic of consumer
into trying to find out how they fit into the society, to a number of mid-career talents worth
bigger picture of Brazil. For in Brazil, if keeping track of, such as Alexandre da Cunha
contemporary art is your passion (or obsession), and Valdirlei Dias Nunes.
São Paulo is the place to be. While Rio may The Brazilian market and its products are
house more artists’ studios, São Paulo is home definitely burgeoning, albeit more steadily and
to their serious galleries, which makes for a huge with less noise than the Chinese. Fernanda
difference in tempo between the cities’ art Feitosa, director of SP Arte, Brazil’s only art fair,
scenes. (For an imperfect view of Brazilian found this year that, with the fair in its third
contemporary art’s gradual move into the edition, one of her greatest challenges was
convincing foreign galleries that Brazilian
collectors aren’t boring. It has to be said, though,
that they sort of are. There is still a hint of the
old ‘colonial complex’: recognition abroad
makes a Brazilian artist more desirable, while the
general lack of a conquering and adventurous
nature within the country inhibits any chance
of an international boom in Brazilian art.
The endless references abroad to the impact
of the Concrete movement, or to work by Lygia
Clark and Hélio Oiticica, is not to be
discredited, but it is rather tiresome. (This
summer The Body of Colour, an exhibition of
Oiticica’s work, moves from the Museum of
Fine Arts, Houston, to London’s Tate Modern;
Oiticica’s work also guided the theoretical
foundations of the 27th São Paulo Biennial, in
2006.) Galeria Nara Roesler, which administers
Oiticica’s estate, couldn’t be happier. Yet even
the best foreign art critics have yet to further
explore the Brazilian art scene and investigate
01 the work that is being produced as part of the
mainstream, one could do worse than wander legacy of these movements.
down to the new Jardins district branch of The fact is that the past ten years have
Livraria da Vila, designed by Isay Weinfeld been an interesting and busy time of rapid
with a façade of sideways-facing bookshelves, change in the Brazilian – and therefore São
and pick up a copy of Carlos Leal’s new Paulo – scene. Galeria Fortes Vilaça sprouted
hardback, Ateliês do Rio de Janeiro.) around five years ago, out of Galeria Camargo
Recently, a typical grey and drizzly day Vilaça, founded by the late Marcantônio Vilaça,
led me to a corner of Oscar Freire – São Paulo’s Brazil’s most energetic contemporary art dealer,
most exclusive open-air shopping address – for and his partner, Karla Camargo, in the early
an opening at the iconic black box that is 1990s. Today it is one of the top five galleries
Galeria Luisa Strina. Upon entry, the in town. Their selection of mid-career artists
crunching of sand beneath my feet made me ranges from the precision of Iran do Espírito
aware that I was off the recently recapped Santo, who will represent Brazil at this year’s
pavement outside, now highly gentrified and Venice Biennale, to the wooden sculptures of
missing the overhead electrical wires that are so Efrain Almeida, the poetic faceless figures
characteristic of the rest of the city. Daytime sketched or in oil by Mauro Piva, all the way
private views are a relatively recent to the oneiric and graffiti-influenced work of
development, but one that has certainly caught Osgemeos (‘the twins’), who slowly conquer
on for Saturdays, and this weekend it was for an the world with their vibrant yellow characters
exhibition of work by London-based Brazilian and heartfelt tales. And in 2005 São Paulo got
Tonico Lemos Auad. Strina is one of the most its art fair (arteBA, in Buenos Aires, the only
consistent and established gallerists in town, regional competition to SP Arte, remains the
religiously showing at the top fairs worldwide, more prestigious of the two, but despite a 14-
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