RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil — Now in its fourth year, Art Rio has settled into a successful formula with 100 galleries, 60 from Brazil. Though the ratio of international exhibitors has been dialed back from 50 percent the first couple years, those that remain represent a healthy mix of smaller spaces tailoring their offerings to nurture connections with the Brazilian market as well as blue chip stalwarts such as Gagosian, White Cube, and David Zwirner showing their usual wares.
While exhibitors were upbeat during Wednesday’s VIP preview, which catered to a predominantly local crowd, most reported works on hold rather than sales. Traffic slowed on Thursday and Friday but was expected to pick up Saturday morning when organizers present a second two-hour VIP event, aimed at collectors from Sao Paolo, Argentina, and greater Latin America who wait for the weekend to make the trip to Rio.
The fair organizers’ selection of the location along the old waterfront has played a part in jumpstarting gentrification in the neighborhood. Once the taxis have dodged construction-related traffic jams, however, the four former warehouses along Pier Mauá provide a convivial environment for both taking in the art and taking a break outside with a caipirinha and some ceviche, the food trend of the moment in Brazil.
Happily, the trend toward foregrounding local and regional art could be seen in the first section, which emphasized work from the second half of the 20th century, as well as the larger contemporary section. Click on the slideshow to see some of the top works, from classic modernism to street art for gallery walls to Renata Lucas’s Absolut Prize-winning interventions exploring changes in the surrounding neighborhood.
