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Carlos Urroz and Maribel López, director and vice director
respectively of ARCO fairs, at ARCOlisboa 2017. Photo Lorena Muñoz-Alonso.
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Does Lisbon Have a Future in the
Contemporary Art Market?
Three galleries are opening in the
city this week, coinciding with the second edition of the fair ARCOlisboa.
Lorena Muñoz-Alonso, May 18, 2017
Yesterday, the second edition of ARCOlisboa held its preview
at the Cordoaria Nacional, gathering 58 galleries from 13 countries. It’s only
been one year since the Portuguese spin-off of Spain’s premier contemporary art
fair, ARCOmadrid, staged its debut edition, which raised eyebrows when it was
first announced, questioning the viability (or necessity) of a fair in a
country not known for its art market prowess. But a mere 12 months have yielded
a hugely significant transformation in the local art scene.
The week began with the grand opening of Galeria Francisco
Fino on Monday night, with a massive party where 300 guests celebrated the
ambitious project of the young dealer, who opened a vast gallery space in a
warehouse in the area of Marvila, near local staples like Galeria Baginski,
Filomena Soares, and Múrias Centeno.
The ambitious inaugural show—which gathers works by
established artists like Irma Blank, Tris Vonna-Michell, and Maria Loboda,
alongside emerging names like Karlos Gil, Debora Delmar Corp. and Diana
Policarpo—has been put together by the young Portuguese curator João Laia.
Somewhat of rising star, Laia has curated a host of exhibitions across the city
this week, as well the new Opening section at the fair, which showcases young
galleries.
On Tuesday, following the trajectory of ARCO, Madrid’s
MaisterraValbuena launched its new Lisbon gallery, with a beautiful group show
curated by João Mourão and Luís Silva, the duo behind the reputed nonprofit
Kunsthalle Lissabon and featuring works by Leonor Antunes, André Romao, Joana
Escoval, and Haris Epaminonda among others.
“Opening a gallery in Lisbon sounds certainly more
surprising than doing so in London or Paris, but we really wanted to open a
space somewhere we could feel at home,” Belén Valbuena, who left Madrid to helm
the Lisbon space, told artnet News. “The art scene in Lisbon and Portugal is
small but very rich, with a very solid artistic tradition, and we thought we
could make a mark here.”
“ARCOlisboa has been very well received in the city and has
generated a lot of attention for the local scene, offering one more reason to
visit. Our focus are collectors both national and international, and we want to
foster cultural relations between Portugal and Spain.”
She might have a point there, as despite being neighbors,
the cultural rapport between the two countries has not always been fluid, with
both developing solid art scenes that seemed quite insulated from each other.
Things are definitely a-changing here, and after a deep
economic recession, Portugal is not only opening up towards Spain, but towards
the rest of the world—particularly the rest of Europe, and Brazil.
Many insiders, including dealers, collectors, and artists,
have told arnet News about the slew of wealthy French, Belgian, and Swiss
collectors that have been buying second homes in Portugal in the last few
years, taking advantage of the low real estate prices and lenient tax regime,
while triggering the economic recovery—generating the classic process of
gentrification that is usually welcomed by investors and dreaded by (some)
locals.
A third gallery is opening here this week, Monitor from
Rome, which is also participating at the fair with a group presentation of
gallery artists, including Nathaniel Mellors, fresh from his acclaimed
participation at the Finnish Pavilion at the Venice Biennale.
“We had a satellite space in New York for two years, which
was a great experience for us. Here, we wanted to do something different,
permanent. We are interested in Portuguese artists and the art scene here is
very rich but not saturated, so it feels like there’s still space to be part of
something,” Paola Capata, the gallery’s director, told artnet News at the fair.
“We don’t have many Portuguese and Spanish collectors, so
setting up a space here opens a lot new possibilities for us, and there’s a lot
of European collectors buying homes here. Last week, in Venice, I met one of my
Asian collectors from the Philippines, who told me he was looking at properties
here, so there’s definitely a vibe.”
Meanwhile, the second edition of ARCOlisboa has seen the
fair grow by an additional 15 galleries, going from the 43 of the debut edition
to 58 this year.
“The idea of launching the fair came from having
conversations with the local galleries, which felt there was a need for it. For
us, Lisbon has all the ingredients to become a very solid contemporary art hub,
but not on a massive, de-personalized scale, as the art scene here feels very
much like a community,” Maribel López, deputy director of both ARCO fairs, told
artnet News.
“Collectors here are very loyal to, and very engaged with,
local artists. So I think our role is to foster that local engagement, while
opening up a more international perspective,” she added.
But is this wave of galleries opening spaces in the city
directly related with the launch of the fair?
“I think ARCOlisboa is both effect and consequence,”
Francisco Fino, who’s also participating in the Opening section of the fair,
told artnet News. “There are international galleries planning to open spaces in
Lisbon, artists moving here, and collectors buying here and living here, so I
think ARCO is relevant, no doubt, but part of a richer context that was already
building up the city.”
“ARCO is definitely an element of interest when thinking
about opening a gallery in Lisbon, but I don’t think about it as the main reason,”
chimed in Matteo Consonni, who launched his gallery Madragoa last year to great
acclaim, shortly before the first edition of the fair.
“The city has ideal conditions for new galleries with
experimental programs to start and operate, but I don’t think the local art
market is the key here,” Consonni, who was director of Turin’s Franco Noero
gallery for five years, added.
“Lisbon has always
had a fantastic artist scene, but there were very few opportunities to
internationalize the city. Now, we have these opportunities and interest from
abroad. ARCO is a huge agent, as it is the first time that Portugal has an
international event of this caliber, but the younger galleries that have opened
spaces in the last year have also been key,” the curator João Laia told artnet
News.
“In more general terms, when the government changed two
years ago, ending the austerity measures, the national economy also started to
improve, creating a framework of optimism in the country that you can really
feel in the streets. The combination of all these elements is making for a
really extraordinary moment for the country,” Laia added.
Whether this buzz consolidates into a solid scene, able to
support both ARCO and the host of new galleries that are opening in the city
down the line, remains to be seen. For now, with two further international
galleries rumoured to be setting up shop in Lisbon in September, it seems
people think the fledging Portuguese art market is definitely worth investing
in.
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