SAO PAULO.- The 11th edition of SP-Arte welcomed 140 participating galleries from 17 countries and featured about 2,000 artists across its five sections: Main, Showcase, Solo, Performance and Open Plan, making it the largest and most international edition to date.

With more than 23,000 visitors during the five days of the fair, including collectors and VIPs, art professionals, academicians and institutions from around the world, such as Tate Modern, London; the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Kunstwerk Berlin; MALBA, Buenos Aires; and Museum of Old and New, Tasmania & Australia, this edition has been a success.

The Main sector hosted the best of modern and contemporary art giving the visitors and collectors the opportunity to see the most exciting and interesting art work from Brazil and the rest of the world.

SP-Arte’s newest sections, Open Plan, a section dedicated to installations curated by XII Cuenca Biennial curator, Jacopo Crivelli Visconti included installations by Julio Le Parc and Maja Bajevic and Django Hernández among others. In addition to Open Plan, the Performance sector, a collaboration with Belas Artes University in São Paulo and Verbo/Vermelho was also a highlight with performances by emerging artists alongside reenactments of performances by important artists like Marina Abramovic and the 1968 performance by James Lee Bayer, Breathe (Two in a Hat). The sector drew attention from visitors of all ages and consolidated the program on the third floor of the Bienal Pavilion with its interactive works.

The 2015 edition presented the third year of Showcase sector, a section highlighting works by up to three emerging artists included Carlos Vergara, Ariel Reichman and Mira Schendel. The Solo section also returned for its second edition, curated by Rodrigo Moura (Director of Instituto Inhotim) and María Inés Rodriguéz (CAPC/Musée d’Art Contemporain de Bordeaux). Some of the highlights included Fernanda Fragateiro at Galería Elba Benítez, Mangelos, at Aanant & Zoo, Rosemarie Castoro at Broadway 1602 and Liliana Porter at Espacio Minimo.

This edition also hosted the Talks - Art as a Value program, a collaboration with Arte!Brasilerios magazine. Participants included Paulo Herkenhoff (Artistic Director of the Rio Museum of Modern Art—MAR), Thomas Galbreith (Director of Global Strategies, Paddle 8), Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev (Artistic Director of dOCUMENTA (13) and draughtsperson for the 14th Istanbul Biennial), Ivo Mesquita (former Director of Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo), Marcio Fainziliber (Chairman of the Board of the Rio Museum of Modern Art—MAR), Don and Mera Rubell (The Rubell Family Collection), Simon Watson (art consultant and journalist) and Sarah Thornton, who launched the Portuguese version of 33 Artists in 3 Acts at the fair.

Awards
SP-Arte continues with a strong program of partnerships with institutions creating and reinforcing its relationships to support art initiatives throughout the year. This includes the Illy Sustain Art Award, founded in 2007, which supports Latin American artists under the age of 35. This year’s Illy Sustain Art Award at SP-Arte was given to artist Ivan Grilo (Casa Triângulo and Luciana Caravello Arte Contemporânea).

For the third consecutive year SP-Arte and ICCo—Instituto de Cultura Contemporânea granted artists the possibility to participate in residency programs abroad, this time, as an exception, awarding three artists. The residencies were given to Beto Shwafaty (Galeria Luisa Strina), Mayana Redin (Galeria Silvia Cintra + Box4) and Pedro Motta (Galeria Celma Albuquerque and Galeria Luisa Strina).

Donations
SP-Arte works closely with galleries and institutions in Brazil to support an extensive program of donations. This year the 19 donations were given to Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo, Museu de Arte Moderna—MAM, Museu de Arte de São Paulo—MASP, Museu de Arte Contemporânea—MAC USP and Museu de Arte de Rio—MAR.