Having consolidated over 18 years its stature as one of the most coveted art fairs in Latin America, and largest of its kind in Colombia, the International Art Fair of Bogotá – ARTBO – returns to its traditional home in the Great Hall of the Corferias Exhibition grounds. As a highlight of the year’s cultural agenda, edition 16 of ARTBO marks also a full return to in-person activities, and two years after the fair went virtual with the coronavirus pandemic.
Starting on October 27 – with a pre-launch on October 26 for international guests and 300 artists participating in ARTBO – the line-up includes 51 galleries based in 15 cities and representing Colombia, Brazil, Spain, Belgium, Argentina, and Chile. In the non-commercial section Artecámara, which gives visibility to new industry names, 34 emerging artists are participating.
Artecámara hosts year-round art exhibitions at the Bogotá Chamber of Commerce’s business outlets. The exhibit “Nothing will be the same again” explores the different paths of transformation, ranging from a sensitive reflection on the memory of the conflict to the way we understand ourselves within the natural context.
In a space that covers 13,000 square meters solely dedicated to art, during the four days of ARTBO visitors to the fair will also be able to participate in the lecture series and academic platform FORO, which for this edition, is curated by Simon Castets, director of strategic initiatives at LUMA Arles. All 23 lectures grouped as SPF 666: Gótico Provenzal, are free to visitors. Gótico Provenzal dissects the ghosts of colonialism, the “tropical gothic” movement, and other art-sensitive themes.
María Paz Gaviria, cultural platform manager of the Bogotá Chamber of Commerce highlighted the resilience of the country’s art community in making the ARTBO comeback possible. “During these three years, the exacerbation of the virtual reminded us of the importance of meeting again, the privilege this means in having spaces for cultural exchanges, to be able to visit them and hold conversations without the interface and disruption of a screen,” she said. “ARTBO provides a venue to enjoy avant-garde proposals, large-format works, emerging artists and independent publications that are, at the same time, objects of art.”
Venezuelan art curator and author Gabriela Rangel has been invited to ARTBO 16 and is based out of Brooklyn, New York. She most recently served as artistic director of the Museum of Latin American Art in Buenos Aires (2019-2021), and from 2004 to 2019 Director of Visual Arts and Chief Curator of the Americas Society in New York. Rangel curated the Referentes section at ARTBO, articulating works by contemporary artists under a common visual narrative.
The collective Anté America, dos tiempos was organized by the Luis Ángel Arango Library of the Banco de la República and curated back in 1992 by Gerardo Mosquera, Carolina Ponce de León, and Rachel Weiss. This exhibition by 32 artists revives the original that marked the 30-year-anniversary of the fifth centennial of the discovery of America.
Colombian Inti Guerrero, co-curator of the 24th Sydney Biennial, and tutor of the curatorial studies program of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts-KASK, Ghent, is in charge of Proyectos, the projects-based section of this fair. Guerrero has curated exhibitions in Asia, Europe, and Latin America, including the Institute for Tropical and Galactical Studies of the Yokohama Triennale (2020), and Tate Modern, London, with A Transatlantic Affair. The works of artists Antonio Caro, Jaime Ávila, Nicolás Cadavid, Tania Candiani, Francisca Jiménez, Dick Verdult, Lucía Vera, and Kiluanji Kia Henda are part of Guerrero’s most artistic undertaking – Proyectos de nación.
Alejandro Martín, also Colombian, is a mathematician and philosopher who found in curatorship a space for research and studying contemporary issues. He was named Artistic Director of the 45th National Salon of Artists in 2019. Martín curated the Artecámara section.
In the Grand Hall are the participating galleries with Brazil represented by stalwarts: Galerria Vermelho and Athena, as well as Central; LUME; Verve and Max Estrella. Newchild from Belgium is a newcomer to ARTBO. The other international galleries in-situ are mor Charpentier (Colombia/France); Instituto de Visión (Colombia/United States); El Museo/Fernando Pradilla (Colombia/Spain); Alarcón Criado (Spain); Waldengallery (Argentina), and Santa Rosa Factory (Chile).
The national galleries are Adrián Ibáñez Galería; Alonso Garcés Galería; Beatriz Esguerra Arte; Casas Riegner; Casa Hoffmann; Doce Cero Cero; Espacio Continuo; FORO. SPACE; Elvira Moreno Gallery; Galería Sextante; GRIS; La Balsa Arte, Galería La Cometa; LA Galería; LGM Galería; Nueveochenta; Otros 360°; Policroma; Salón Comunal; SGR Galería; SKETCH; Rolf Art; Quadra Gallery; ZIPPER Gallery; Nordés; and Zielinsky.
Sitio houses large-scale works, including sculpture and live performance. For this edition, the exhibiting artists are Leonel Castañeda (Colombia); Karen Aune (Brazil); Federico Ovalles (Venezuela); Ricardo Cárdenas (Colombia); Alejandro Tobón (Colombia); Carlos Rojas (Colombia); Luis Caballero (Colombia) and Robert Llimós (Spain).
Libro de Artista – Artist’s Book – brings together 30 independent publishers who have explored the book as an artistic medium, to promote research, creation, and experimentation in art. The curatorship by Cain Press is entitled: Ups, something went wrong.
Articularte brings together laboratories and workshops designed to bring the public closer to art based on the interaction around contemporary artistic practices. With “A study of the landscape” Paulo Licona, María Adelaida Samper, and Gabriel Zea of LZS collective focus on artistic production as a means of education and social healing. Especially relevant as ARTBO sheds its impersonal virtual format with the pandemic and look forward to embrace new audiences.
Tickets are available at COP$32,000 per person. Student admission is COP$15,000. Doors open from 12:00 noon until 7:00 pm.
Corferias. Avenida La Esperanza with CRA 39.
Follow ARTBO on social media: ARTBO (Facebook); @feriaARTBO (Twitter); @feriaartbo (Instagram).
The complete schedule is available at: www.artbo.co
