Much has been said about the role of international art fairs, as chequebooks and doors are flung wide open to some of the most revered art collections in the world. Celebrating its 22nd anniversary, ArteBA – Argentina’s premier contemporary art fair – has become an integral part to the nascent commerce of the Latin-American art scene, welcoming collectors, dealers, and all the glamour of the art framework to Buenos Aires during a frenetic long weekend.

A man admires the work of the artist Sclavo at arteBA 2013 at La Rural in Palermo. (Photo: Beatrice Murch)

The vast majority of the thousands of art enthusiasts that descend upon La Rural over the next three days come not with the intention of buying, but to experience work that exists outside of the multinational gallery franchises. Art fairs such as this are crucial elements to the survival of independent galleries whilst simultaneously providing more established institutions an opportunity to flaunt their most prized assets.

The contemporary art gallery Elsi del Río features both paintings and sculptures at arteBA 2013 at (C30). (Photo: Beatrice Murch)

Featuring an eclectic mix of both renowned and emerging galleries – selected by varying committees and curators – arteBA eradicates the choice between global and local, concurrently offering spheres of ‘Latin-American’ art and embracing international artistic landscapes. This constant response and adaptation to the growing needs of its galleries and consumers has contributed to the continued evolution of art in this region.

The artist Elena Damiani occupies the whole Revolver stand (PR8) with her combination of photo collages and looped video. (Photo: Beatrice Murch)

This year, the fair has accentuated its international flavour, introducing the third edition of the U-Turn Project Rooms by Mercedes-Benz, creating a space that explores contemporary art beyond Argentina’s borders. Represented by 12 international galleries, this unique component of the art fair showcases the work of over 20 artists – many of them realising projects specifically for arteBA – the vast majority of which are making their debut on Argentinian soil. Elena Damiani of Revolver (PR8), Peru, displays particularly striking photo collages than can be seen as a reflection on Roland Barthes’ essay ‘Camera Lucida’. Deconstructing the traditional elements of photographic representation, these works challenge the notion of illusion and reality, stripping the content of its original meaning and re-presenting the images with a latent ambiguity that challenge the viewer to search for alternative meanings.

Argentine-born street artist TEC is featured in the Brazilian gallery Choque Cultural (I81). (Photo: Beatrice Murch)

A number of galleries have chosen to focus on solo or two-man shows which contributes to the fairs uncluttered atmosphere. From Brazilian gallery Choque Cultural (I81), Argentine-born street artist TEC is working as an “artist-in-residence” for the weekend, creating site-specific works in his signature style that can be noted for its overwhelming positivity, friendly characters and bright colours. Akin to the work of Jean-Michel Basquait, his paintings were the driving force behind the munequismo movement – one that was extremely influential in capturing the aesthetics and philosophy during the aftermath of the 2001 economic crash. His works on display here, remain as experimental as ever.

Patricio Guillamón has created a unique image – Piquetero Technicolor – which is shown by Centro de Edicion (H80). (Photo: Beatrice Murch)

The exhibition also displays moments of political commentary. At Centro de Edicion (H80), Patricio Guillamón supplants the conventional modes of visualisation, extending the realm of the photographic compass. The ‘outlook’ of his original image – a ‘Piquetero’ – has been left deliberately frustrated as the work is stripped of its earliest meaning and transformed into tiny, intricate circular pixels that bring to mind Thomas Ruff’s ‘Jpegs’ series. Elsewhere Ignacio Valdez (C29 Palatina) and Eduardo Stupia (A4 Jorge Maria La Ruche) present graphic impressions reminiscent of Surrealist ‘automatic’ drawings. These intense renderings are worked and re-worked – scratched, smudged and erased – leaving every trace of the hand etched into the surface.

A detail of one of Eduardo Stupia’s painting presented by Jorge Maria La Ruche gallery in stand A4. (Photo: Beatrice Murch)

These artists represent a small sampling of the work on display at this years ArteBA. Acting as a conduit between Argentine and worldwide art scenes, ArteBA stands as an annual meeting point for key players on the international circuit to come together, positioning this fair firmly in a global context

ArteBA is on daily from 1-9pm until Monday at La Rural, Av. Sarmiento, Palermo. For more information visit www.arteba.org

Photographer Natasha Ali shares her singular point of view of ArteBA 2012 which is open to the public from 18th until 22nd May, from 1-9pm in La Rural, Avenida Sarmiento 2704, Buenos Aires. General admission is $50. For more information and the schedule of auditorium events see www.arteba.org

Visitors stroll the maze of exhibitions at ArteBA 2012.

Marta Minujin's work illuminates observers as they walk by.

Post Traumatic Kunst, is a collective composed of four artists from different disciplines.

A child spends much time interacting with the works of Mauricio Lupini.

Fashion as a work of art.

Artists from galleria Sur. right: Artist, Yente

Crafted wooden furniture designs by Mariano Cornej.

Eclectic display of work at the arteBA, including works by Felipe Salem.

Gallery Felina Super Heroina.

Works of Pedro Tyler with the Isabel Aninat Gallery.

Break-dancers take the floor to audio performances from La Multisectorial Invisible.

'Tie your sneakers not you mind' is an audio and visual installation by Converse.

Left: artist from VERA CORTÊS art agency Right: Rafael Gonzalez Moreno

Work by sculptor, Javier Bernasconi.

December 6-11 over 500 artisans are selling their products direct to the public at La Rural convention center in Palermo for your holiday shopping needs. Coming in from provinces all throughout Argentina, you can see and buy traditional Argentine hand-crafted products, as well as some creations that push the boundaries a bit. Photographer Beatrice Murch shares a small sample of what to expect at La Rural through the long holiday weekend. Entrance fee is 20 pesos at Av Sarmiento 2704 from 15-22 hrs every day through the 11th.

Jorge and Silvia Mason's Argentine Silver workshop in Buenos Aires

Specialty Knives by Juan Rocha of Zarate in Buenos Aires Province

Andean Art and Textiles by Abel D. Delgado from Cusco, Peru

Dancers from Santiago del Estero perform on stage

Traditional ceramic pottery by Ricardo Faustino Mamani Cruz from Alto Comedero in Jujuy

Precolumbian Utilitarian Pottery designed by Jorge Copa

Bovine and Penguino Pottery by Frida

Beautiful 'Utilitarian Pottery' by Carlos Alberto Leporace from Viedma in Rio Negro

Fileteado signs for all occasions by Daniel Adrian Ceruso from Buenos Aires

Designed Accessories by Celia Mikkelsen from Necochea of Buenos Aires Province

Luis Carlos Marek sells Mates, Bombillas, Knives, Napkin Rings and much more

Delicious Salames and Quesos

Rose Quartz Crystal, the Argentina national stone, is sold by 'Joyeria-Melina' from Andalgalá in the province of Catamarca

Mandala Magico in Buenos Aires sells Indian garments

Chocolate bars are one of the many sweet goodies that comes from Mendoza

Hammered Metal by Guillermo David Rodriguez from Córdoba

Provincial stands of Jujuy and Tucumán

Metal work by Ana Maria Caricati from Buenos Aires

Roberta Uhrig from Buenos Aires crochets more beautiful garments in her stall

Young beautiful women from Salta sit at the 'information' booth for the province of Salta

This season the ninth edition of the ‘Festival de La Luz’, or ‘Festival of Light’ showcases the work of over 400 photographers. International rising stars as well as celebrated Argentine artists are showing works under the theme ‘Realidad (I)realidad’ (‘Reality (Un)reality’). The festival kicked off on 3rd August at the Centro Cultural Recoleta, and runs until the end of September. The Argentina Independent brings you a sample of the highlights so far.

Illuminated Cities

 

Photo by Susana Sá

 

In his book: ‘Invisible Cities’, Italo Calvino describes many different metropolises, which all turn out to be manifestations of the same place: Venice. The photographers of ‘Visible Cities’ also interpret their city, Brazil’s Curitiba, as many contradictory spaces existing simultaneously. From institutional site to dream space, ordered centre to shadowy underworld – this is a city constantly being transformed by its inhabitants.

Milla Jung’s photos show people in the street, some lost in thought, some embracing. Others stare up at a sight out of shot, which no one around them has noticed. These overlooked personal dramas prompt reflection on private lives lived within public space. Her protagonists secretly remap communal spaces with their contradictory viewpoints of the city.

Anuschka Reichman Lemos’s photos appear at first to be bold abstract paintings, but on closer inspection the swathes cutting through them are the boundaries of urban spaces, roads, walkways and stairwells. Within them, lone, alienated figures wander within restricted paths. These demarcations across the photos’ surface not only deal with urban space, but the space of photography itself – and the tension between flat surface, the illusion of depth.

Maycon Amoroso concentrates on the city at night. Street corners, deserted shops and brothels reveal a city within a city, occupied by drinkers, vagrants and prostitutes. People often appear as a blur in these long-exposed images. In one, just a high-heeled shoe is caught by the camera as the subject disappears into the night, giving a sense of anonymity and marginality.

Other photographers by-pass the citizens altogether to concentrate their lenses on the fabric of urban construction. Images of blue tarpaulin sheets give space a dreamlike quality in Susanna Sa’s works. Edwardo Serafim uses cables and lines to direct his gaze, forming what he describes as “…a geometry that recovers the city.” Antônio Wolff’s photographs show half-demolished buildings, transitory spaces between existence and absence.

These studies however, are not just physical observations, but poetic metaphors for the dreams and trajectories of the city’s population. Like Calvino, these artists demonstrate that what really makes the metropolis tick is the way its inhabitants move within it – and the unseen which hums between the cracks.

Visible Cities is a project by eight photographers who live in Curitiba, Brazil, of the ‘Núcleo de Estudios de Fotografía’. It shows at Centro Cultural Recoleta until 3rd September 2006, but also exists as a web gallery on www.zonezero.com/exposiciones/images.html

Physical Lives: Tomasz Gudzowaty

Polish photojournalist Tomasz Gudzowaty creates photo-essays that give insights into rarely seen cultures and intensely physical, arduous lives.

In one series he focuses on Shoalin Buddhist Monks in China, documenting their strict regime of Kung Fu combined with Zen meditation. In many of these photos the young monks practice intense physical discipline by maintaining challenging positions such as headstands for long durations. In others, the age-old Kung Fu movie cliché of breaking bricks is depicted, this time in all the realism and texture of its native context.

 

Photo by Tomasz Gudzowaty

 

A second series documents Bangladeshi ship-breakers working in the dangerous conditions of Chittagong’s shipyards. This begins with a close-up on the blackened, oily face of a worker, staring out at the camera.

In the photos that follow however, human dimensions become dwarfed by the industrial scale of the rusting tankers – some of the largest in the world. Chunks of the metal carcasses rest like dinosaur bones on the banks of the delta, as ant-like lines of workers carry away the scrap.

Tomasz Gudzowaty’s Templo Shaolin and Shipwreckers shows until 3rd September 2006 at Fotogalería Teatro General San Martín.

Landscapes: Eduardo Gil

 

Photo by Eduardo Gil

 

Eduardo Gil’s past work includes a series of black and white photos of his native Argentina, which point towards the struggles the country has endured since the last dictatorship.

His latest series however, is a set of simple, yet strangely disconcerting colour portraits: heads and shoulders of sitters, with eyes closed, taken in a studio. These are ironically entitled ‘Paisajes’ or ‘Landscapes’.

The uniform treatment of these subjects makes them appear strangely generic and anonymous, disallowing any social or intimate reading of them. They appear perhaps to be dreaming or remembering, yet we are shut out from their world, without access to the ‘windows to the soul’.

With this series Gil poses questions to his viewer. What and where are these ‘landscapes’ that he refers to? Might they be inside the imaginations or memories of his subjects’ heads? Perhaps the people themselves are the ‘landscapes’ and we are being asked to imagine them as such. He provokes multiple readings, without the possibility of easy conclusions.

In this series Gil says he aims to; “..suppress the thing that was always present in my photographs and in my discourse: the gaze.” In doing this, Gil draws into question the central principle of photography. His new work therefore is not only a radical departure from that of the past, but also a deconstruction of it.

Paisajes shows at Centro Cultural Recoleta until 3rd September 2006

Festival de la Luz runs until 30th September 2006. See dates of specific exhibitions on: www.encuentrosabiertos.com.ar