First Fair Dedicated to Brazilian Contemporary Art and Design Debuts During Art Week December 4-8, 2013.

Brazil ArtFair, the first fair dedicated to Brazilian contemporary art and design will debut in Miami this December 4-8, with a VIP and press previews on Tuesday, December 3rd. Press and VIP registration can be done via the Brazil ArtFair website, www.brazilartfair.com.

Housed in a 25,000 square foot exposition center, on Midtown Boulevard, near the Wynwood Art District, Brazil ArtFair will present work from 15 Brazilian art galleries, over 100 artists, an exhibition of work by Brazilian artists curated by Luisa Duarte, and Orchestra Brasil, a selection of innovative contemporary furniture by 18 Brazil’s leading design studios.

“Our mission for the first edition is to present art and design that reflects contemporary Brazil,” said Brazil ArtFair director, Michel Serebrinsky. “From the selection of galleries and the art that they will exhibit to Luisa Duarte’s curated exhibition to the design of our space, we created Brazil ArtFair with the purpose of bringing to Miami not just a new art fair experience but also a new experience of Brazil. ”

Brazil ArtFair has gathered a strong group of carefully selected Brazilian galleries, artists, and designers –both established and emerging – and has approached the fair with a strong curatorial point of view. The show aspires to not only inform the world market about the dynamic new work that is being produced in Brazil but also to educate the attendees about the country’s complex political, social, and cultural realities. Brazil ArtFair’s directors and curators see Brazil’s contemporary art and design as catalysts for change and movement helping to create worldwide awareness for the country. An important part of this mission, the curated exhibition, Tempo Suspenso (Suspended Time) addresses the political concerns that have galvanized contemporary Brazilian artistic practice and examines relationships between art, politics, and civic engagement. The exhibition will feature works, not for sale, by 15 renowned Brazilian artists, including Mauro Restiffe, Rivane Neuenschwander and Pedro Motta.

The design of the pavilion’s entrance features an inflatable entrance created by Marton Estúdio. Designed to resemble the concrete architecture of Brasilia, the country’s capital, it will rhythmically inflate and deflate as a metaphor for the dynamic new life of the contemporary Brazilian art scene.

The exhibiting galleries will present a wide range of artistic voices including: the sophisticated popular art works from Galeria Estação, street art from Galeria Movimento and Galeria Logo and conceptual contemporary art from Central Galeria de Arte and Emma Thomas. In addition to the work of young Brazilian artists – such as Ícaro Lira, Frederico Filippi and Mayana Redin, from Galeria Um Zero Três (103) – visitors will have the opportunity to acquire work by prestigious established Brazilian artists, such as Claudia Jaguaribe and Vania Mignone. The galleries will also present multiple solo exhibitions. With nearly all of the participating galleries new to Miami, Brazil ArtFair is poised to become a strong international resource for Brazilian galleries, artists, and designers, and a place of discovery for the attendees of Miami Art Week.

Participating Galleries: Artur Fidalgo, Rio de Janeiro; Central Galeria de Arte, São Paulo; Emma Thomas, São Paulo; Galeria Estação, Rio de Janeiro; Galeria LOGO, São Paulo; Galeria Mezanino, São Paulo; Galeria Movimento, Rio de Janeiro; Galeria Um Zero Três (103), São Paulo; H.A.P. Galeria, Rio de Janeiro; Jo Slaviero e Guedes, São Paulo; Lourdina Jean Rabieh, São Paulo; Marton Estúdio, São Paulo, Mercedes Viegas, Rio de Janeiro; Multiplique Boutique, São Paulo; Paralelo, São Paulo.

Curated Exhibition-Tempo Suspenso: curated by Luisa Duarte, one of the most respected curators in Brazil today, this political exhibition features works Berna Reale, Clarissa Tossin, Iran do Espírito Santo, Laércio Redondo, Laís Myrrha, Matheu Rocha Pitta, Mauro Restiffe, Milton Machado, Pedro Motta, Raquel Garbelotti, Regina Parra, Rivane Neuenschwander and Sara Ramo.

Orchestra Brasil features a juried selection of 24 pieces including chairs, tables, and home accessories from Alessandra Delgado-Girona Design, Bernardo Senna, Domingos Tótora, Em2 Design, Faro Design, Flávia Pagotti Silva, Índio da Costa A.U.D.T., Gallina e Visentini, Jader Almeida, Lattoog Design, Luiz Pedrazzi, Mameluca, NDT Design, Projeto 3 Design, Quadrante Design, Regis Padilha, Studio B, UNT Intelligence Design and Zanini de Zanine. A number of designers from this highly esteemed group have been awarded top honors and projects, including Zanini de Zanine, who has designed for Tolix and Poltrona Frau; Jader Almeida, recipient of the top award from Museu da Casa Brasileira, Brazil’s premier design museum; Domingos Totora, who creates sustainable furniture and decorative objects using cardboard; and Guto Indio da Costa, who remodeled Rio’s traditional street vendor stands on famed Copacabana Beach.

West Encounters East: a one-hour documentary, which will be shown daily, explores an artistic space where the vibrant palette of Latin America and the silence of the East come together to create something new. Created and developed by filmmaker and art historian Stella M. Holmes of The Brickellian, the film was screened at several film festivals across the United States and broadcast on 280 television stations. It explores the themes of immigration, alienation, and assimilation through work of well-known Latin American artists with Eastern heritage, such as Japanese-Brazilians Yutaka Toyota, Takashi Fukushima, Megumi Yuasa, and Kazuo Okubo, descendants of a century-old diaspora that has given São Paulo the largest Japanese population outside Japan.

Dates: December 4-8, 2013

Location: 3501 NE Midtown Boulevard and 36th St, Miami, Florida

PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS

2 Daily Guided Tours for Collectors

Noon and 6pm

Reservations can be made at the front desk.

December 4 – 4:00 pm – Conversation with Brazil ArtFair Directors Ester Krivkin and Michel Serebrinsky

Krivkin and Serebrinsky will discuss the Brazil ArtFair concept, the art market in Brazil and the importance of the international promotion of Brazilian art and Brazil’s creative economy. They will give overviews of the participating galleries, “Suspended Time,” the curated exhibition, and Orchestra Brasil.

December 5 – 11 to 1 pm – Silent Auction of the Furniture from the Orchestra Brasil Exhibition Silent Auction and Champagne Reception Benefiting DASH, Design and Architecture Senior High, Miami’s premier magnet high school.

December 5 – 4:00 pm – Artist Talk

Rio de Janeiro-based artist Claudia Melli will talk about her work and her use of nanquim (india ink) for producing her signature landscapes.

December 6 – 4:00 pm - Panel Discussion with 3 furniture designers participating in the Orchestra Brasil exhibition

December 7 – 4:00 pm – Talk by Wagner Lungov, owner of Galeria Central

Lungov is a young gallerist and collector who left his job as at a German multi-national company to dedicate his life to contemporary art. Lugov will talk about his experience in the corporate world, his process for choosing artists to represent and his thoughts about Brazil’s place in the international art market.

December 8 – 4 pm – Talk by Miami-based curator, art historian and filmmaker Stella M. Holmes

Founder of The Brickellian, a company that develops art marketing programs for cultural institutions, foundations and non-profit organizations, Holmes is also the founder of West Encounters East, a company that makes documentary films about multicultural artists to increase awareness of and respect for cultural differences. A film made Holmes for West Encounters East about Japanese Brazilians is being shown at the fair.

Fair Previews

Press Preview: Tuesday, December 3 3 - 5 pm

VIP Preview: Tuesday, December 3   5 - 10 pm

General Admission Dates:

Wednesday, December 4    11am  - 7pm

Thursday, December 5     11 am - 7pm

Friday, December 6             11 am - 8 pm

Saturday, December 7         11 am - 7 pm

Sunday, December 8           11 am - 6 pm

General admission: $15 / Students/Seniors: $10

Press Contact:

Dan Schwartz / Dalia Stoniene

Susan Grant Lewin Associates

212-947-4557

dan@susangrantlewin.com / dalia@susangrantlewin.com