Vera Chaves Barcellos, “One Way, Two Ways”, 1975 (detalhe). Cortesia: Galeria Superfície

The first SP-Arte Online Viewing Room has barely begun and is already historic! In the first 24 hours alone, the site received around 32 thousand visitors, demonstrating the democratic access and reach that a virtual fair can achieve. Over 130 art and design exhibitors are participating in the fair, offering the public the full variety of Latin America’s biggest art fair, in a new form of contact and immersion.

Converting a physical fair to a digital environment entails a series of challenges, innovations and reinventions on the part of all the participating galleries – how do you create narratives and provide those interested in art with comprehensive and stimulating content? SP-Arte congratulates all the galleries and teams involved for the unprecedented effort they put into developing this virtual space.

As usual for SP-Arte events, we now share our own top picks for Online Viewing Room, highlighting just a few of the most standout and original projects of this first edition.

Above: Vera Chaves Barcellos, “One Way, Two Ways”, 1975 (detail). Courtesy: Galeria Superfície

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Bancos Indígenas do Xingu

Indigenous benches are possibly the earliest kind of Brazilian furniture. They extend the concept of functionality to the symbolic dimension. Bancos Indígenas do Xingu (which translates as Xingu Indigenous Benches) features a series of pieces produced by the Mehinaku people.

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Galeria Superfície

Galeria Superfície presents a solo project by artist Vera Chaves Barcellos, who is newly represented by the gallery, in a wide-ranging selection that includes well known works conceived between 1974 and 1996.

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Nacional TROVOA

Founded in 2017, Nacional TROVOA maps and builds a network of women artists, curators and art educators of colour – including Asian and indigenous women – transsexuals and transvestites. The group is one of the most significant debuts at SP-Arte this year.

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Projeto Vênus

Projeto Vênus, the downtown São Paulo gallery that operates in an experimental format, presents “Sobre pássaros & felinos”, a photographic essay with the painters Adriana Coppio and Camile Sproesser, alongside invited artists Efrain Almeida and Marcellvs L.

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HOA

Art gallery HOA is part of HOA Tour, an arts organisation based in São Paulo, founded in 2020 by artist Igi Lola Ayedun. Dedicated to Latin American contemporary art, the gallery uses the internet as a focal point, emphasising the idea of being “hosted everywhere”.

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01.01 Art Platform

The independent platform connects artists around the world from the African diaspora. About their project at OVR, the collective explains, “the purpose of acquisition through the platform is to establish ethical agreements aligned with a community commitment. The collection becomes an affective guide to less unequal relationships that promote collective values”.

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Fortes D’Aloia & Gabriel

From a desire to provide sensory enjoyment and a return to the physical experience of art, the FDAG project consists of a domestic environment in downtown São Paulo, filled with unseen pieces and recent works by artists represented by the gallery.

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Galeria Estação

Galeria Estação, which works mainly with self-taught artists, focusses their project on works from three artists. They are Santidio Pereira, the only living artist of the three presented, with his unseen series “Morros”, accompanied by the celebrated painters Amadeo Lorenzato and José Antônio da Silva.

NEOARTE - Soluções Fotográficas para o Mercado de Arte / www.neoarte.net

Almeida e Dale Galeria de Arte

The selection presented by Almeida e Dale Galeria de Arte contemplates a range of artistic languages and periods, spanning a period of time from the 1920’s to the present day.

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Passado Composto Século XX

The project from Passado Composto Século XX is made up of two aspects – stand out Brazilian tapestry artists, such as Roberto Burle Marx and Genaro de Carvalho, and rarities of modern Brazilian design, including Joaquim Tenreiro and Sergio Rodrigues.

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Simões de Assis

Taking the line as their theme, Simões de Assis brings together a variety of names from their archive, ranging from modern artists such as Alberto Guignard and Cícero Dias to emerging names in contemporary art, such as Julia Kater and Maya Weishof.

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Zalszupin por Etel

Etel presents a special selection in homage to Jorge Zalszupin, one of the masters of modern Brazilian design, who recently passed away. The pieces on show, which include sofas, armchairs and chairs, were all designed in the 1960’s-1970’s.

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Verve

Verve Galeria commemorate 7 years since their inauguration with SP-Arte Viewing Room. To celebrate the date, each of their represented artists responds to the question, “What is your Verve?”. What inspires, disturbs, stimulates, provokes and nourishes the research of each one?

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Anita Schwartz Galeria de Arte

The project “Miradas” by Anita Schwartz Galeria, one of Rio de Janeiro’s most prominent galleries, focuses on both rising artists in the contemporary scene and on names already established nationally and internationally.

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Paulo Darzé Galeria 

Based in Salvador, capital of the Brazilian state of Bahia, Paulo Darzé Galeria assembles over twenty artists for SP-Arte Viewing Room. The selection highlights important Afrocentric works, such as those by Ayrson Heráclito and Mestre Didi, as well as others by young artists.

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Galeria Millan

One of the longest running galleries in São Paulo, Galeria Millan presents dialogues between their youngest and recently represented artists, including Ana Calzavara and David Almeida, as well gallery stars, such as Tunga and Nelson Felix.

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Ronie Mesquita Galeria

The selection from Ronie Mesquita Galeria covers work produced between 1950 and 1980, including a number of rarities by renowned artists. Among those presented are Anna Bella Geiger, Agnaldo dos Santos and Mira Schendel.

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Galería Sur

Galería Sur, from Punta del Este, celebrates their 35th anniversary with SP-Arte. Their online show assembles important works from key Latin American artistic movements in the 20th century, from the kinetics to the concretists, with a focus on artists from Uruguay, Brazil, Argentina and Cuba.

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Galería de las Misione

The project from Galería de las Misione, from Montevideo, comprises a selection of artists and works representative of the gallery’s profile and that represent three major ways of using wood to make artistic work – sculpture, construction and painting.

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1 Mira Madrid

Gallery 1 Mira Madrid presents a solo project by Brazilian artist Ana Amorim. Born in 1956, the artist blurs the line between art and life in her work, creating from her physical, mental and emotional shifts and movements.

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