When the 11th edition of the SP-Arte fair opened to invited guests this morning at 11 a.m. in Saõ Paulo, all was quiet. The few collectors on hand strolled through the airy, curvaceous 1957 building that Oscar Niemeyer designed for the city’s Bienal, taking their time. But now it is mid-afternoon, and the place is humming. The booths of the 141 galleries are jam-packed. There go the Rubells! It is too early to talk business, but one can at least take a look at what dealers—from big guns like Gagosian, David Zwirner, and Lisson to a wide array of Brazilian galleries—brought to the fair. Some highlights follow below. SP-Arte opens to the public on Thursday, April 9, and runs through Sunday. Click an image below to view pieces from the fair.
Classic Melvin Edwards works from the 1980s and ’90s, at London’s Stephen Friedman Gallery.
Anish Kapoor and Lawrence Weiner at Lisson Gallery, of London, Milan, and very soon, New York.
Helene Appel and Sara VanDerBeek quietly, carefully hang on the walls at The Approach, of London, as a bronze Evan Holloway sculpture holds court at center.
Maria Nepomuceo at A Gentil Carioca, which is based in Rio.
A lounge by the water company Minalba.
Recent paintings by the Brazilian artist Marcelo Cipis at São Paulo’s Galeria Emma Thomas. Sign me up.
José Damasceno’s Monitor/Crayon (2012/14) at Galeria Fortes Vilaça, which has galleries in Rio and São Paulo.
At Mexico City’s kurimanzutto, Haegue Yang has new wall works that are covered with bells, and let out a jovial celebration of noise when they spin. On the floor, a sculpture by Abraham Cruzvillegas.
Turin's Galleria Franco Noero.
Michael Werner Gallery, with work by Marcel Broodthaers on the wings and James Lee Byars at center. High mysticism, aesthetically and conceptually.
A 1971 Dan Flavin he dedicated to the legendary dealer Virginia Dwan, at David Zwirner's booth.
Bridget Riley’s 1983 Doce verão, at David Zwirner. The gallery also has a cubic McCracken and art-fair-favorite Oscar Murillo.
New York’s Alexander Gray and Associates is all in on Luis Camnitzer’s. Here’s Objectos Arbitrários (1970/2015).
A detail of the Camnitzer.
A work by Marina Abramovic on offer São Paulo's Luciana Brito Galeria. Her work is everywhere at the fair, coinciding with her retrospective in town at SESC Pompeia.
Middle fingers from Ai Weiwei at Berlin's neugerriemschneider.
Marian Goodman’s booth is elegant and understated. Here are pieces by Gabriel Orozco, Adrian Villar Rojas, and, tucked away to the right, Julie Mehretu.
A very flossy Hirst at White Cube.
The sort of trio one sees only at an art fair: Etel Adnan, Rachel Kneebone, and Tracey Emin, from left to right, at White Cube.
A 2014 drawing of a man floating—sinking—underwater by Robert Longo and a beast by George Baselitz, at Thaddaeus Ropac.
On Monday night, White Cube opened an Anselm Kiefer show at its space in São Paulo. Those on the hunt for late ‘90s Kiefer will find it in Ropac’s backroom.
A winner: Alex Katz’s 1976 Nabil’s Loft, at Ropac.
Gargantuan chocolate-chip cookies at Le Pain Quotidien.
Franz West and Urs Fischer at Gagosian, which has come to the fair typically well stocked. Its other offerings include paintings by Helen Frankenthaler, Cecily Brown, Richard Prince, and Jean Dubuffet—something for every blue chipper.
A 2014 Albert Oehlen, at Gagosian. The New Museum in New York has an Oehlen show on tap for June.
The booth of Berlin's neugerriemschneider, with works by Olafur Eliasson, Rirkrit Tiravanija, and Ai Weiwei.
A 1978 Robert Morris felt piece at Milan’s Cardi Gallery, which has paired it with classic Arte Povera work. A formidable booth.
A 1942 painting by the Uruguayan Joaquín Torres-García at Galeria Sur, of Punta del Este. The Museum of Modern Art has a retrospective opening in October, not a moment too soon.
Heartbreaking, spare Mira Schendels from the 1980s, at Galeria Bergamin, another São Paulo outfit.
A painting by the Brazilian artist Alcides Pereira dos Santos at Galeria Estação of São Paulo.
Italian-Brazilian painter Alfredo Volpi's work is out in force. Here he is at Rio de Janeiro’s Galeria de Arte Ipanema.
Hirst, Calder, and Hirst, at Van de Weghe, of New York.
Hard-edged abstraction at Simões de Assis Galeria de Arte, from Curitiba, Brazil.
A bounty of Calders—stabiles, drawings, and paintings—at Barcelona’s Mayoral Galeria d'Art.
New York’s Broadway 1602 gallery has devoted its booth to the great Rosemarie Castoro, showing stunning paintings, drawings, and sculptures from the 1960s and ‘70s. It is easily one of the most thrilling booths at the fair. (A note: devoted fair followers may recall that Beyoncé posed for several photos with Castoro works at Frieze London last October.)
Small portraits on paper by Ricardo Homen at AM Galeria de Arte, of Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
A few Homens.
The reach of Joe Bradley is long. Paintings by Gustavo Speridião at Roberto Alban Galeria, from Salvador.
Fernando Botero at Bogotà’s El Museo Galeria.