Brazilian artistic plurality inspires new fair by SP–Arte

With 70 galleries, Rotas Brasileiras embraces production from the five national regions, focusing on solo shows and curated projects and investing in the multiplicity of artistic languages

SP–Foto has grown. In 2022, August’s fair, traditionally dedicated to photography, now encompasses multiple artistic languages, as well as featuring work from major national photographers. This is Rotas Brasileiras, a new art fair taking place from the 24th through 28th of August at ARCA, a 9 thousand square meter warehouse located in Vila Leopoldina, São Paulo.

By focusing on selected projects, whether solo or collective, the fair seeks to strengthen ties among agents from the country’s five regions, recognizing the value of photographic and artistic production from the entire national territory. In the words of SP–Arte’s director Fernanda Feitosa, “there is work of the highest quality coming from Amazonia, the Jequitinhonha Valley, capitals and state interiors in different regions which we don’t always have access to. Rotas Brasileiras is an invitation to immerse yourself in this”.

70 exhibitors are participating, among them art galleries and invited projects that interweave a range of perspectives from throughout Brazil. For this edition SP–Arte has taken care of bringing exhibitors from a range of states who are interested in speaking about a broad spectrum of artistic production in Brazil, reimagining the borders between the erudite and the popular, center and periphery, commercial and the institutional, and which provide insight into the cosmovision of different “Brazils”.

Projects, most of which come from outside of the São Paulo-Rio axis, will be presenting their own exhibitions, such as Arte Pará (PA), one of the longest running visual arts events in Brazil, celebrating 40 years in the market and curated by Paulo Herkenhoff and Laura Rago; Uma Concertação pela Amazônia (AM), will exhibit photographs from the region curated by Eder Chiodetto; PREAMAR (MA), is a project that seeks to support visual art production in Maranhão based on consolidating a network; Novos para Nós (SP), maps popular art throughout Brazil and will be presenting a selection of artworks from the Jequitinhonha Valley; Fundação Pierre Verger (BA), was created in Salvador in 1988 with the aim of preserving and promoting the work of its founder and setting up and maintaining cultural and scientific exchange between Brazil and Africa, in particular, between Bahia and the Gulf of Benin; Prêmio Museu É Mundo, is an award that seeks to map, support, promote, and enable artistic activity that fosters cultural and social development in a range of regions throughout the country; Instituto Mario Cravo Neto (BA), was created in 2016 to raise awareness about the artist’s legacy, including the variety of techniques, media and issues that Cravo Neto engaged with throughout his life; Bancos Indígenas do Xingu (MT), produced by the Kamayurá, Mehinaku and Waujá ethnicities; and the Wesley Duke Lee Art Institute (SP), established in 2015 which takes the form of a museum-home, reproducing the studio of this artist who experimented with magic realism, in addition to housing and preserving an incredibly rich collection of documents and personal artifacts.

Galleries that traditionally participate in the fair will be present for this edition, such as Almeida & Dale, Central, Choque Cultural, DAN Galeria, Galleria Continua, Gomide&Co, HOA, Luisa Strina, Marília Razuk, Millan, Nara Roesler, Paulo Kuczynski, Sé, Sur, Vermelho, VERVE and Zipper. In addition, Galatea, the new gallery in São Paulo from partners Antonia Bergamin, Conrado Mesquita and Tomás Toledo, makes its debut appearance with a collective of Brazilian artists whose works deal with geometrical compositions based on webs and grids. Some of the exhibitors hail from other states, such as Marco Zero (PE), Paulo Darzé and Alban (BA), Karandash (AL), Karla Osório (DF), Rodrigo Ratton, AM Galeria, Celma Albuquerque and ArteFASAM (MG), Zielinsky (RS and Spain) and Zilda Fraletti (PR). Take a look at the complete list of exhibitors here.

With the idea of projects in mind, some of the galleries are bringing solo shows from artists that include Sebastião Salgado (Aimorés, 1944), for Silvia Cintra + Box4, Siron Franco (Goiás, 1947), for Paulo Darzé Galeria (BA), Brisa Noronha (Belo Horizonte, 1990), for Sé Galeria (SP), Maria Lira Marques (Araçuaí, 1945) for Rodrigo Ratton Galeria (MG), Washington da Selva (Carmo do Parnaíba, 1991) for Samba (RJ), while others promote dialogues between one or more artists, such as Ana Claudia Almeida (Rio de Janeiro, 1993) and Tatiana Chalhoub (Rio de Janeiro, 1987), for Quadra (RJ); and Simone Cupello (Rio de Janeiro, 1962), Sergio Augusto Porto (Rio de Janeiro, 1946) and Bruno Cançado (Belo Horizonte, 1981), artists who work with processes that draw from the world of construction and architecture, for Central (SP), and Marepe (Santo Antônio de Jesus, 1970) and Panmela Castro (Rio de Janeiro, 1981), for Luisa Strina (SP).

“This is a space for discovering new artists, revisiting names from the past, and expanding knowledge, with a curious and open eye for the country’s artistic production”, notes director for new business at SP–Arte, Tamara Brandt Perlman.