By Chesney Hearst, Senior Contributing Reporter
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Art collectors, galleries, artists and art lovers from around the world will gather together once again in five spacious former warehouses located at Rio de Janeiro’s Pier Maua next week as ArtRio, one of the largest art fairs in Latin America, returns for its fifth edition on September 10th, 11th, 12th and 13th.
In addition to the Brazilian galleries, the festival will feature galleries from eleven countries: Argentina, Spain, USA, France, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Portugal, United Kingdom, Switzerland, and Uruguay.
Organizers estimate that during the 2014 edition of ArtRio, 52,000 visitors passed through the 20,000 square meters of space of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th armazèms (warehouses) in Rio’s Port Zone’s Pier Mauá to view works the contemporary works displayed by the 106 featured galleries.
“Among our goals for this year is to be the best fair for doing business, uniting in the same environment the most relevant market players – gallery owners, collectors and curators, and artists,” Brenda Valansi, one of ArtRio’s organizers, explained in a prepared statement.
This year’s edition of ArtRio will once again by divided into programs: PANORAMA, VISTA and PRIMA. The PANORAMA section will host national and international galleries including the Rio de Janeiro galleries, A Gentil Carioca, Amarelonegro Arte Contemporãnea, Gustavo Rebello Arte, and Marcia Barrozo do Amaral; the São Paulo galleries, Casa Triângulo and Carbono Galeria; the David Zwirner Gallery from New York; the Buenos Aires gallery, Barro Arte Contemporáneo; the Florence gallery, Eduardo Secci Contemporary; and the French galleries, Galerie Agnes Monplaisir and Galerie Bernard Ceysson.
The VISTA program will showcase newer galleries and experimental curatorial projects made especially for the festival. Featured galleries will include the London’s Gallery Nosco and Lamb Arts; the São Paulo galleries, Galerina Pilar, Galeria Lume, and Blau Projects; the Swiss gallery Espace_L; and the Rio de Janeiro galleries, MUV Gallery and Portas VilasecaGaleria. Finally, the PRISMA section will spotlight unpublished works of both Brazilian and international artists.
“Our focus is on fostering the market, giving high visibility to Brazilian art and also bringing in the big highlights of the world stage,” said Valansi.
Valansi is one of ArtRio’s organizers, along with Elisangela Valadares, Luiz Calainho and Alexandre Accioly. The main sponsor of the festival is Bradesco with additional support this year from Department of Culture, through the Law for the Encouragement of Culture of the City of Rio de Janeiro, Rock in Rio, Heineken, Sky, Minalba, Nescafé Dolce Gusto and Pirelli, Klabin , Body Tech, Estacio andH. Stern.
For more information, a complete list of artists, exhibitors, presenters and the full schedule of events, see the official ArtRio website.
What: ArtRio 2015
When: September 10th, 11th, 12th and 13th, 1PM to 9PM on September 10th, 11th, and 12th, 1PM to 7PM on the 13th.
Where: Rua Rodrigues Alves, 10 – Centro (main entrance in front of Praça Mauá )
Entrance: R$15 – R$30