The Chamber of Commerce of Bogotá was the venue for Maria Paz Gaviria, director of ArtBo and Monica de Greiff, president of the Chamber of Commerce of Bogota presented yesterday at a press conference, the tenth edition of ARTBO, the most important art fair in the country, held in the capital of Bogota since its creation in 2005. Among the major novelties found were: the presence of the international Spanish curator Chus Martínez who is, since January, the director of the Institute of Art Academy of Art and Design in Basel; the premiere of "Referentes", a new section curated by Carolina Ponce de Leon and Santiago Rueda, which will offer to the audience a historical context about the works of art and artists of the fair in a period ranging from 1940-1970; and the creation of a corporate identity to celebrate its tenth anniversary. The fair will continue to have the project section by José Roca and 'Artecámara' which, curated by Jaime Ceron will bring together artists under 40 from across the country.
This year's edition, held from October 24th to 27th, will bring together 66 galleries from 29 cities of 20 countries. Its officials have acknowledged that there has been a 30% increase in applications to participate in the fair. The Advisory and Selection Committee, the only one responsible to evaluate applications of galleries and select those that will participate, as well as to advise the organization in its international projection, has been composed by Elba Benitez, from Elba Benitez Gallery in Madrid ; María Eugenia Niño, from the Sextant Gallery in Bogota; Ignacio Liprandi, from Ignacio Liprandi Contemporary Art in Buenos Aires; Alex Mor, from mor • charpentier galerie in Paris and Bogota; and Eduardo Brandao, from Vermelho in São Paulo.
Once again there will be 14 galleries from Colombia present in the main section, repeating almost all from last year: Alonso Garcés, Beatriz Esguerra, Casas Riegner, The Museum, Doce Cero Cero 12:00 Gallery, La Cometa, Sextant, LA Gallery, Nueveochenta, Valenzuela Klenner, Jenny Vilà and Office Gallery. The novelties are: The Institute of Vision-previously La Central-and Nohra Haime -also with space in New York. In addition, the Parisian mor • charpentier will also return, which since November 2012 has an office in Bogota, in collaboration with the local manager Omayra Alvarado.
In Brazil, despite of reducing its presence from 10 to 7 galleries, Baro, Eduardo Fernandes, Jaqueline Martins, Luisa Strina Vermelho repeat and Luciana Brito and Millán incorporate, causing low Amparo 60, Triangulo House, Fortes Vilaça Marilia Razuk and Silvia Cintra + Box 4, all released last year. In Spain, which also slightly lower in participation from 9 to 8, Elba Benitez, Espaivisor, Comodo Format, La Caja Negra, Max Estrella and Nogueras Blanchard return, and Maisterravalbuena and Travesia Cuatro- also with space in Guadalajara- Mexico, incorporate. Casa sin fin fall, Polígrafa Obra Grafica and Fernando Pradilla-who participates with El Museo (Bogotá), also his property-. Conversely, Argentina comes up, from 4 to 6, with Document Art Gallery coming again, Del Infinito Arte- with also a venue in Bogota-, Ignacio Liprandi and Rolf Art, and joining to this edition Ruth Benzacar and Henrique Faria. Mexico also increased from 3 to 5, returning Arroniz, Enrique Guerrero and OMR again and joining Marso and Yautepec.
The neighboring country Peru also rises with a gallery this year, growing from 2 to 3. So, 80M2 Livia Benavides and Lucia de la Puente repeat while Revólver incorporates. From the other neighboring country, Venezuela, Carmen Araujo repeats and Oficina #1 comes back. Portuguese Filomena Soares returns and Baginski steps in. Finally Isabel Aninat from Chile returns and like NoMíNIMO from Ecuador; From Cuba, Havana will be again and DiabloRosso, from Panama, makes a debut. As far as one is concerned, to the rest of the no Latin American countries, it is necessary to go back to highlight the loud presence of North American galleries, with 8 representatives, among them some repeaters like Magnan Metz, Sicardi, Y Gallery, Leon Tovar, Steve Turner and Josee Bienvenu. The Germans Christian Lethert, Gregor Podnar and Michael Sturm, the Dutch Annet Gelink, the Swiss Christinger de Mayo and the Italian P420 will participate.
In the press conference, Gaviria said: "ARTBO is recognized as the fair of better quality of Latin America, not only for its growth, its impact, but also for the way that more and more international visitors come to the fair. But, in particular, for its rigorous selection and collect the best art of Colombia, Latin America and many parts of the world. "
Undoubtedly, the tenth anniversary of the fair comes at a peak moment of Colombian art scene, with hits in both inside and outside the country. Among the most recent are the designation of Colombia as the guest of honor at the fair ARCO 2015, the Hiroshima Art Prize, awarded to Doris Salcedo, (Bogotá, 1958), or the inclusion of Botoga in the book Cities of Art Future. Vanguards of the XXI Century, published by Phaidon, as one of the 12 new cities leading the contemporary art world, for which Joseph Rock was asked to select eight Colombian artists.
In addition to traditional galleries, which have been working for a couple of decades, new cultural spaces have been added, like Misol Foundation, created by the collector Solita Mishaan, Flora ars +natura, led by José Roca and located in the San Felipe area, known as the new Art District of Bogota, where also the Argentin Del Infinito Arte has just relocated, an example of foreign gallery has been added to the local scene of Bogota, and so has the French mor • charpentier with a local partner, specializing in Latin American art. We must also add another aspect, not less important, as are the high positions occupied by some Colombian curators in international institutions like the one repeatedly cited as José Roca, associate curator of Latin American Art Estrellita B. Brodsky at the Tate Gallery in London, from January 2012, or Maria Ines Rodriguez, director of CAPC - Museum of Contemporary Art in Bordeaux, since February 2014.
Related Publications
