ARCO 2025 takes the pulse of Latin American art

Within the wide range of the ARCO 2025 International Contemporary Art Fair, the presence of Latin American galleries has once again stood out, not only in terms of percentages of representation, but also because it is the focus of its central project: "Wamisté: ideas for an Amazonian futurism."

Its proposals range from dialogue with tradition to new forms of artistic conceptualization, which consolidate it as a region where creativity is infinite.

This section is curated by Denilson Baniwa and Maria Willis, with the participation of 15 galleries from six countries, where Brazil and Argentina stand out, and artists such as Claudia Andújar, Carlos Jacanamijoy, Carlos Motta and the Mahku Collective.

Sketch by the Latam catalog

However, it is not the only space where Latin America is the protagonist. The "Profiles/Latin American Art" section features 10 galleries from seven different countries, whose premise is to exhibit the work of a single artist per gallery. Among them is the Embajada gallery from San Juan, Puerto Rico, directed by Christopher Rivera.
The institution presents the work of Chabeli Cifres, whose artistic practice fuses spirituality, divination and the use of smell as a means of conceptual exploration. In an interview with Arte por Excelencias, Rivera highlighted how Embajada began as an "Artist Run Project", a space run by artists for artists, until it became a consolidated gallery that has evolved organically within the international circuit.

On the other hand, the Isla flotador gallery, with offices in Buenos Aires and São Paulo, is at ARCO with a proposal that reviews the production of the Argentine artist Mariela Scafati. With an exhibition spanning from the late 90s to the present, the gallery emphasizes the evolution of its pictorial language, moving between abstraction and figuration with an experimental focus on the materiality of painting.
Although outside the "Profiles" section, the Cuban gallery El Apartamento confirms itself as an essential part of ARCO in terms of Latin American art, by adding its ninth participation in the event. Founded in Havana in 2015, it has recently expanded to Madrid with a headquarters, which has led it to expand the nationalities of the artists in its catalog.

Luis Sicre, its director, emphasizes that El Apartamento works with conceptual and contemporary art in multiple media, from video art to sculpture, painting and installation. The ARCO fair has been key in its expansion and in establishing links with the European market and Spanish institutions, which have historically shown great interest in Cuban art. On this occasion, they are presenting works by José Bedia, Los Bravú, Ariamna Contino, Roberto Diago, Leandro Feal, Diana Fonseca, Alx Hernández, Miki Leal, Eduardo Ponjuán and Reynier Leyva.

In this way, ARCO Madrid demonstrates, once again, the creative power of Latin America, its capacity for dialogue with other artistic scenes and its consolidation in the international contemporary art market.
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