A driving force in Argentina’s thriving art industry

Alec Oxenford, collector, entrepreneur, and president of the arteBA Fundación, explains his commitment and contribution to the Argentine artworld

Entrepreneur, tech start-up co-founder and art collector, Alec Oxenford.

What is your involvement with the Buenos Aires art scene?

I am an entrepreneur and the co-founder of tech start-ups OLX and Letgo. I am currently president of the arteBA Fundación, an NGO that owns and operates the oldest art fair in Latin America. I also run the Beca Oxenford, which offers 14 grants per year for new, up-and-coming artists who wish to finance their travel expenses, to encourage cultural development and professional fieldwork for Argentine modern art. I am passionate about contemporary art and am currently building an Argentine contemporary art collection (the Oxenford Collection) which has over 300 works from 100 living artists including paintings, drawings, installations, videos, sculptures, photographs, and objects, from the year 2000 onwards.

What’s happening in the current Argentine art climate?

Argentina has a heterogeneous and thriving art scene with a market that is on the rise. It is also very edgy, since you can find great pieces of experimental work. After the 2001 crisis, the art scene found new incentive: museums and non-profit organizations became committed to quality works and found more international exposure. The government of Buenos Aires is also committed to making a great effort to expand its engagement with the arts. There are new artistic developments in the city: the Arts District and the Villa Crespo scene. Given its rich cultural heritage, Buenos Aires − and Argentina − has a lot more to offer than meets the eye.

What is the future of the Argentine cultural community?

Argentina is just opening up and I feel this is the beginning of a very positive cycle. The challenge is to sustain a fluid exchange with the rest of the global art scene without losing quality and our refreshing identity.

Interview by Clément Dirié.

Taken from the Art Basel | Year 48 book, which is available now. For more information, click here.

arteBA Fundación is a non-profit organization active since 1991. In Argentina, it supports artistic creation in the visual arts, both locally and internationally. This year, its annual event, the arteBA Fair, Latin America’s largest contemporary art fair, will take place from May 24-27, 2018. For more information, click here.

For further information about the Art Basel Cities: Buenos Aires initiative, click here.