Visual arts in 2024

Visual arts in 2024: year of international expansion and local growth
The Venice Biennale, considered the most important art exhibition in the world, welcomed in 2024 the works of Paraguayan artists Juana Marta Rodas and Julia Isídrez. The work of the Iteñas ceramists was part of the exhibition by the main curator Adriano Pedrosa.

The pieces were located in the central space of one of the pavilions of the event, which took place from April 20 to November 24.
Isídrez was in Italy accompanying the inauguration. She also presented a solo exhibition at the Kasmin gallery in New York City, United States; and exhibited her works in the Miró room at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris, France.

The Paraguayan artist Claudia Casarino also held solo exhibitions in galleries in São Paulo, Brazil; and Montevideo, Uruguay; in addition to being part of the exhibition “How much does love weigh?”, at the Recoleta Cultural Center in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Collectively, Paraguayan artists participated with their works in the ArteCo fair in Corrientes, in the ART.MO International Contemporary Art Festival in Peru, in the Pepe Dámaso Cultural Center in the Canary Islands (Spain) and in the Casa de América Latina in Lisbon (Portugal).

Other Paraguayan artists who stood out with their works internationally were Marco Benítez, Lili Cantero, Alfredo Quiroz, Bernardo Puente, Enrique Collar, among others.
The Paraguayan curator Lía Colombino was also in charge of several exhibitions in Spain such as: “The beauty of the possible” and “The soul of things”, in the Canary Islands; and “The eloquence of the Image. Català-Roca in America” at the Museum of America, in Madrid.

The Museum of Latin American Art of Buenos Aires (Malba) acquired the work “Guri” by the Paraguayan artist Lotte Schulz (1925-2016), to incorporate it into its collection.

At the local level, there was also a very busy year, with initiatives that seek to bring art closer to the Paraguayan public. One of them was Muvi (Museo Vivo) that presented the project “El robo del siglo” (The robbery of the century) at the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes (National Museum of Fine Arts), as well as the installation “Arroyito”, by Mónica González, in the Parque Caballero pool.
The MNBA also hosted an exhibition of works by Darío Cardona and a retrospective exhibition of the remembered sculptor Gustavo Beckelmann.

In the year that just ended, the French government awarded the collector and patron Nicolás Dario Latourrette Bo the distinction of Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters; while the curator Adriana Almada and the visual artist Félix Toranzos received this recognition in the degree of Knights.
In 2024, new spaces for the arts were also registered, such as the CAF House of Integration, which hosted different exhibitions and talks such as those of the third edition of Pinta Sud Asu.
Last December, the death of visual artist Koki Ruiz shocked the entire country. In March, the death of artist Emilio Cutillo was also recorded.

2024 also hosted new editions of events that are consolidating themselves on the agenda, such as the Galerías Night, which celebrated its tenth anniversary; the Oxígeno Fair, the Night of Museums, the International Photographic Book Fair, among others.
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