<p>The Brazilian gallerist cites the show’s arrival in Florida as a cornerstone of her international success&nbsp;</p>

Brett Sokol

20 years of Art Basel Miami Beach: Luisa Strina

<p>Nearly five decades on from its founding, São Paulo, Brazil’s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.artbasel.com/catalog/gallery/1126/Galeria-Luisa-Strina" target="_blank">Galeria Luisa Strina</a> is no longer the scrappy space without a telephone that first greeted visitors in 1974. The gallery’s namesake owner, Luisa Strina, is now saluted for her global championing of several generations of Brazilian artists, from the blue-chip concep­tualist&nbsp;<a href="https://www.artbasel.com/catalog/artist/7304/Cildo-Meireles" target="_blank">Cildo Meireles</a> to younger talents including&nbsp;<a href="https://www.artbasel.com/catalog/artist/7306/Fernanda-Gomes" target="_blank">Fernanda Gomes</a> and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.artbasel.com/catalog/artist/7072/Alexandre-da-Cunha" target="_blank">Alexandre da Cunha</a>, ensuring their work has become as much of a fixture on the international museum circuit as in Brazil itself. Indeed, Strina’s gallery has become a de facto institution within Brazil’s cultural scene. Yet Strina credits Art Basel Miami Beach – where her gallery has been an exhibitor since its 2002 launch – with helping cement that role.</p>

<p><strong>Was exhibiting at Art Basel Miami Beach important in expanding your international client base to the United States and Europe?</strong></p><p>Not only for Europe and the US. I consider it to be the main fair in Latin America, because so many of the clients there are from Latin America.</p><p><strong>Are there Brazilian clients you first met in Miami?</strong></p><p>Yes! Art Basel has been very important in developing the art market in Brazil. In the beginning, not a lot of Brazilians used to go to Art Basel in Switzerland. But there are many Brazilians who have apart­ments and houses in Miami. Once they started going to the fair there, they were connecting much more with art.</p>

<p><strong>Was it strange to see Brazilians coming to Miami and buy­ing work at your booth who had never before set foot in your São Paulo gallery?</strong></p><p>They were not only buying from my gallery, but other Brazilian gal­leries as well. When I started with the fair in 2002, we had two or three Brazilian galleries. When I left the organizing committee 12 years later, we had 14 Brazilian galleries.</p><p><strong>Have you seen a change in the dynamics of the fair itself over the past 20 years? </strong></p><p>I think, more than the fair changing, it’s interesting for me to see how Miami has changed in those 20 years. It’s a totally different city now, and most of it is thanks to the art fair. </p><p><strong>How so?</strong></p><p>Well, Miami grew up! There are more museums there now, more col­lectors there now. Before, it was a city we used to visit and there was nothing to do besides going to the beach. Now, the whole city is much more interested in art.</p>

<p>This article was originally commissioned for the <em>Art Basel Miami Beach </em>magazine 2022.</p><p>Top image: Installation view of a work by Renata Luca&nbsp;presented by A Gentil Carioca, neugerriemschneider, and&nbsp;Galeria Luisa Strina in the Unlimited sector of Art Basel in Basel, 2019. A dark filter was applied for readability.&nbsp;</p>

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<section></section><section><section><main><div><p>The Magic City’s remarkable development over the last 20 years has led it to become a major contemporary art capital, with much more to come</p></div><section></section></main></section></section><section> <section><main><section></section></main></section></section> <section></section>

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The Brazilian gallerist cites the show’s arrival in Florida as a cornerstone of her international success 

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The Brazilian gallerist cites the show’s arrival in Florida as a cornerstone of her international success

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