Latin art takes London by storm

More than 120 established and emerging artists began exhibiting their works Monday in London as part of the second edition of the New York-based PINTA fair, the modern and contemporary art show that will continue until tomorrow. This year, there is a strong Spanish presence among many of the artists' exhibitions, which are decked across 50 galleries' spaces at the Earls Court Exhibition Centre.

Founded in New York in 2007, the PINTA fair decided to increase its presence in the British capital, with the aim "to promote Latin American art in the most difficult places," says President Alejandro Zaia. The stated aim of the fair is to "break open" the secrets of Latin America before a European audience.

To this end, the addition of London in PINTA's tour calendar was a necessary step because the British capital is "the epicenter of the art market, with the highest concentration of collectors from Europe and other continents," Zaia explains.

It appears that it could give Madrid's ARCO International Contemporary Art Fair strong competition. But ARCO organizers, who just celebrated the 30th anniversary of the event in February, don't see it that way. "PINTA is a highly focused exhibition, so we at ARCO do not see it as a threat," Carlos Urroz, director of the Madrid event said on Sunday. "There is so much movement in artistic shows that markets are the meeting place for collectors. The challenge is for everyone to find their ground."

Until Thursday, experts, buyers and the public, willing to pay the 15-pound entrance fee at the Earls Court pavilion, will be able to view a rich collection of works created in the past six decades, including paintings, sculptures, photography and video.

While the visitor will easily recognize names such as Colombia's Fernando Botero, this year's PINTA highlights are the individual works from four acclaimed artists who are less famous outside their region: the Brazilians Regina Silveira and Waltercio Caldas, Argentina's Eduardo Costa, and Mexico's Felipe Ehrenberg, who is a pioneer of conceptual art.

"There has been a paradigm shift in Latin American art, a reevaluation of the works produced since the 1960s," says Zaia. "Geometrical abstract is now seen as historical with the new focus on conceptual art."

The PINTA fair, which includes a dozen galleries from Madrid, Barcelona and Seville, also focuses on the procurement programs at several European museums. In the case of the Tate Modern in London, curators have a very active Latin American section: a quarter of the purchases are works by young artists (born after 1985) who come from that region.