This debate reflects broader pressures affecting galleries worldwide, including an increasing dependence on art fairs as primary commercial platforms and rising participation costs. These dynamics are also pushing collectors toward markets that actively support the growth of the art industry. In the long term, such structural imbalances will inevitably affect the competitiveness of national artists while benefiting artists from other countries.
Let us now analyze how this situation has impacted the Brazilian presence at ARCO this year, both in terms of market performance and in relation to the new psychological dynamics shaping collectors’ choices and their perception of artistic content.
General Program
Casa Triângulo
Casa Triângulo reported strong results during the fair. All works by Fernanda Galvão were sold, with prices ranging between €16.000 and €32.000, acquired respectively by collectors from Greece (smaller work) and Spain (larger work). Part of the gallery’s younger generation of artists, explores organic processes and material transformations through sculptural and pictorial forms that evoke growth, instability, and metamorphosis.
The gallery also sold two works by Sandra Cinto to Brazilian collectors, while another work by the artist was placed on reserve. In 2025, the artist reappeared in the international auction market with the sale of Vôo II, 2022, which achieved $63.500 at Sotheby’s Contemporary Day Auction in November.
In addition, a work by Max Gomez Canle was acquired by a Spanish collection for approximately €10.000.
Lyz Parayzo’s work addresses questions of identity, body, and resistance, drawing on references to urban culture and the trans experience in Brazil. The artist participated in the 17th Lyon Biennale (2024–2025) and in the exhibition O início do mundo at Pinakotheke Cultural, Rio de Janeiro, in 2025. Albano Afonso develops a practice centered on the relationships between image, light, and perception, combining optical procedures and layered visual structures that challenge the boundaries between representation and abstraction. In 2025–2026, he participated in the group exhibition Asa de Chronos at Centro MariAntonia in São Paulo.
Sandra Cinto
Untitled II, from the series Prelúdio para o Sol e as Estrelas (après Mallorca), 2026
Acrylic on wood
27,5 x 15,5 x 2,5 cm cm
Sold
Fernanda Galvão
Wild Space Lettuce, 2026
Charcoal, dry pastel, oil bar and oil on linen
200 x 230 cm
Sold
Martins & Montero
Maria Monteiro noted that works by Genilson Soares, Hudinilson Jr, and Lia D Castro were sold on the first day of the fair, with prices averaging around €12.000 each. Lia D Castro’s works, which investigate the poetic and emotional dimensions of everyday imagery through painting and drawing, also attracted strong interest from collectors. In addition to the pieces sold at the fair, the gallery reported further acquisitions by private collections in Germany, Belgium, France, and Seoul, highlighting the expanding international reach of the artist’s practice.
The gallery also reported acquisitions of works by Hudinilson Jr., a seminal figure of Brazilian conceptual and body art. Known for his experimental use of photocopy, performance, and the body as a matrix of image production, the artist is currently included in an exhibition at the Museo Reina Sofía. His works were acquired by collections in Germany, France, Austria, and the United States, reflecting continued institutional and market interest in his pioneering practice.
Genilson Soares’ practice explores the intersections between drawing, memory, and symbolic imagery, often combining delicate line work with narrative elements that evoke personal and collective histories. The artist currently has works on view at the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía in Madrid, reinforcing his growing institutional visibility within the European context.
Superfície
Superfície presents a solo booth by Ana Amorim, whose work has generated strong interest during the fair. So far, four works have been sold, with prices ranging from €8.800 to €48.800, including an acquisition by a Brazilian collector based between Paris and the United States. The gallery also reported that conversations are currently underway with two major international institutions, although details cannot yet be disclosed.
Amorim’s work has emerged as a compelling discovery for curators and collectors, notably for the conceptual rigor of her practice and her nearly four-decade commitment to producing daily Mental Maps. For more than twenty years, the artist followed a self-imposed conceptual contract that guided her practice: producing one work per day, refusing to sell her works, and declining to exhibit in museums that charged admission or displayed sponsor logos. Through these works and performances counting seconds, days, and hours, she transforms lived experience into the primary material of her practice. Only recently have her works begun to enter the art market.
The presentation coincides with a period of renewed institutional visibility for the artist. In 2025, Amorim presented the major solo exhibition Mapas Mentais at the Museu de Arte Contemporânea da Universidade de São Paulo (MAC USP), bringing together nearly four decades of work, including large-scale installations composed of daily records. That same year, she also presented a significant exhibition at the MAK – Museum of Applied Arts in Vienna. At the end of 2024, extending into 2025, the artist held a major solo exhibition, Counting Routines, at the Fundación Cerezales Antonino y Cinia in León, Spain, further reinforcing the international dimension of her trajectory.
Ana Amorim
Second Embroidery Studies 03, 2011
White pencil and white cotton thread embroidered on black cotton cloth
33.3 x 38.1 cm
Asking Price: 8.800
Sold
Raquel Arnaud
The gallery brings together a presentation of Marina Weffort and Julio Villani in a dialogue structured around subtraction and accumulation as poetic strategies. During the fair, two works by Julio Villani and five works by Marina Weffort were sold, acquired by four collectors from the United States, one from Spain, one from Puerto Rico, and one work entering a Belgian collection.
While Weffort develops works grounded in processes of unraveling and revealing structural voids, recently presented in her solo exhibition Da curva, a reta at the gallery’s São Paulo space in 2025 and in the group exhibition O fiar: pontos, nós, corte at Casa de Cultura do Parque, Villani constructs his works through layering, erasure and accumulation, as seen in his 2025 solo exhibition L’eau rougie de la veine mémoire at RX&SLAG in Paris and in recent institutional exhibitions in Brazil, including shows A tela insurgente at Instituto Figueiredo Ferraz and Coleção Vilma Eid: Em cada canto Instituto Tomie Ohtake.
Together, the presentation establishes a shared field of reflection on fragility, resilience and impermanence, highlighting the complementary approaches of two artists whose practices engage with the material and temporal dimensions of contemporary art.
Fortes D'Aiola & Gabriel
Fortes D’Aloia & Gabriel brings together a selection of recent works by Brazilian artists, reflecting the gallery’s consistent presence across major institutional exhibitions and international market platforms. The gallery reported several sales across all artists presented at the fair and noted that multiple conversations remain ongoing, ranging from private collectors to institutional collections.
Among the international highlights, Ernesto Neto presented the large-scale installation Nosso Barco Tambor Terra at the Grand Palais in Paris in 2025, marking a major institutional project in Europe. Luiz Zerbini was included in the inaugural exhibition of the new Fondation Cartier space in Paris, reinforcing his longstanding international presence. Janaina Tschäpe has also maintained strong visibility abroad, with a painting sold for approximately $150.000 during Art Basel Paris 2025, underscoring sustained demand for her work in the European market.
In Brazil, Rivane Neuenschwander held the solo exhibition Tangolomango at Inhotim in 2024, further consolidating her institutional presence. Márcia Falcão participated in the 36th São Paulo Biennial, 2025–2026, representing an important recent milestone in her career. Within the gallery’s own program, Cristiano Lenhardt and Luiz Zerbini presented recent works in the exhibition Observations at Fortes D’Aloia & Gabriel gallery in 2025–2026.
Almeida & Dale
At ARCOmadrid 2026, Almeida & Dale presented a booth bringing together more than 20 artists, highlighting different generations of Brazilian art. The gallery reported several sales during the fair, led by paintings by Eleonore Koch, priced between $95.000 and $300.000, and works by Amadeo Luciano Lorenzato, ranging from $85.000 to $150.000. Additional sales included works by Carlos Garaicoa, available at $23.000, Ana Elisa Egreja with an asking price of $20.000, Vivian Caccuri at $20.000, Maxwell Alexandre, with works on paper priced between $18.000 and $20.000, and Paulo Pasta at $14.000.
Among the artists featured in the presentation are Lidia Lisbôa, Marlene Almeida, Maxwell Alexandre, Rebeca Carapiá, and Heitor dos Prazeres, who participated in the 36th São Paulo Biennial, 2025–2026, with commissioned works and historical ensembles, highlighting the growing institutional recognition of their practices in recent years.
It is also worth noting that artists such as Ana Elisa Egreja, Eleonore Koch, Jaider Esbell, Maxwell Alexandre, Montez Magno, and Rubem Valentim are currently included in the exhibition Complexo Brasil at the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon, 2025–2026, reinforcing the dialogue between Brazilian artistic production and international institutional circuits.
Dalton Paula, also presented in the booth, held a solo exhibition titled Infâncias Negras at Lisson Gallery in New York (11 September – 30 October 2025). During the same period, his educational initiative Sertão Negro was presented through a project at Storefront for Art and Architecture in New York. Looking ahead, the artist is scheduled to present linha de resolução (an alignment of pictures) in São Paulo in July 2026, as part of the program of the gallery representing him.
At Collegium (Arévalo), an installation by Tunga, an artist represented by Almeida & Dale, proposes an immersive experience based on reflections, scent, and perceptual shifts, expanding the historical and symbolic dimensions of the curatorial framework.
This year, the gallery also announced the representation of Grada Kilomba (31 January) and Nuno Ramos (2 March). Their inclusion reinforces the gallery’s programmatic expansion and its commitment to artists whose practices critically engage with history, memory, and contemporary cultural debates.
Vermelho
Galeria Vermelho reported several important institutional placements during ARCOmadrid 2026. Among them, an installation by Claudia Andujar and Leandro Lima was placed with the Museo Reina Sofía in Madrid. The gallery also confirmed the acquisition by the Institut Valencià d’Art Modern (IVAM) of Subterra: Abyssal & Root by Mexican artist Tania Candiani. Although the installation was not presented at the fair, the acquisition was finalized during ARCO and announced by the institution as part of its purchases. First presented at the Helsinki Biennial last year, the work consists of 22 blown-glass objects, two videos, and two sound pieces.
At the fair, Galeria Vermelho presented a booth centered on works by Carlos Motta (Bogotá, 1978) and Brazilian artist Edgard de Souza, bringing together two practices that explore the body and its political, symbolic, and experiential dimensions.
According to the gallery, ARCO remains an important platform for building relationships with local and international public institutions, particularly around conceptually driven projects.
The presentation coincides with a period of renewed institutional visibility. In 2025, works by Edgard de Souza were included in the exhibition Fullgás: Artes visuais e anos 1980 no Brasil, presented at the Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil in São Paulo and Belo Horizonte, as well as in the group exhibition Liminal in Nature at the Neuberger Museum of Art, New York. Recent works by the artist were also presented internationally at Frieze New York 2025, where embroidered works on linen marked a new development within his practice.
Luciana Brito
Luciana Brito Gallery returns to the fair with a presentation bringing together artists from different generations, highlighting the continuity and diversity of its program. During the fair, the gallery reported sales of works by Brazilian artists Regina Silveira, recently featured in Modus Operandi at the Instituto de Arte Contemporânea (IAC), São Paulo, 2025 and currently participating in La lechuza de Minerva at the Círculo de Bellas Artes, Madrid (until May 10, 2026), and Caio Reisewitz, who recently presented works in Suspendre el Cel at the Fundació Mies van der Rohe Pavilion, Barcelona, 2024 and Delírio Tropical at the Pinacoteca do Ceará, 2025.
Othe sales include Liliana Porter from Argentina and the mexican artist Bosco Sodi, with the works acquired by private collections across Europe, reflecting sustained interest in the gallery’s program.
Luisa Strina
The Galeria Luisa Strina participates with Semear a água: quem tem medo da paisagem, a solo presentation by Juliana dos Santos. The presentation coincides with a period of significant institutional visibility for the artist. In 2025–2026, dos Santos presented Temporã, her first solo museum exhibition, at the Pinacoteca de São Paulo, on view through March 2026. Developed from an artistic residency, the exhibition centers on the transformation of natural pigments derived from the Clitoria ternatea flower, a key material in her practice. In 2025 the artist also participated in the 36th São Paulo Biennial. Her recent institutional presence also includes participation in the group exhibition Trovoada, presented at Galpão das Artes, in Jardim Botânico, Rio de Janeiro, from January to February 2026.
Portas Vilaseca
Portas Vilaseca takes part in the fair with a selection of Latin American artists, including the Brazilian artists Ayrson Heráclito and Nádia Taquary. The presentation coincides with a period of intense institutional visibility for both.
Ayrson Heráclito was recently announced as one of the artists selected for the 2026 Venice Biennale, following his participation in the Antioquia and Medellín International Art Biennials in 2025. Heráclito’s work is held in major international public collections, including the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía and Fundación TBA21, among others.
Nádia Taquary, in turn, presented the solo exhibition Ònà Ìrìn: Caminho de Ferro at Sesc Belenzinho, 2025–2026, an offshoot of a show previously held at the National Museum of Afro-Brazilian Culture in Salvador, in addition to participating in international exhibitions at institutions such as the Haus der Kulturen der Welt in Berlin and El Museo del Barrio in New York, as well as the 36th São Paulo Biennial.
This body of work highlights the growing international presence of Brazilian artists whose research engages with memory, spirituality, and Afro-diasporic heritage in contemporary contexts.
Perfis Arte Latino-Americana
Galatea
The gallery makes its debut at ARCO Madrid with a solo presentation by Gabriel Branco, bringing together for the first time the artist’s paintings and photographs, two complementary bodies of work that define his practice. During the fair, the gallery reported the sale of 12 works, including paintings and photographs, with three additional works placed on reserve, as well as one work reserved for the fair’s award selection. All sales were made to collections outside Brazil. The presentation also generated strong institutional and commercial interest, including a London-based gallery expressing interest in collaborating with the artist.
The presentation coincides with a period of growing international visibility for the artist. In 2025, Branco participated in Art Basel Miami Beach with Galatea, marking one of his first major international appearances. That same year, he also took part in the group exhibition Contra Mapa – Sur tout ce qui s’embrasse at the Festival d’Arles, Arles, France. This was followed by the solo exhibition A luz sem nome at Galatea Salvador. The ARCO Madrid presentation represents his first international solo project, consolidating the artist’s emergence on the global circuit.
A Gentil Carioca
The A Gentil Carioca returns to ARCO with FUNFUN, a solo presentation of new works by Kelton Campos Fausto. The project draws on the symbolism of Òbàtálá, the Òrìṣà Funfun, exploring ideas of creation, spiritual formation and destiny through works that engage with Afro-diasporic cosmologies and material processes.
The presentation coincides with a period of growing visibility for the artist. In 2024–2025, Campos Fausto presented the solo exhibition Ègbé ọ̀run Ẹgbẹ́ àiyé at A Gentil Carioca in Rio de Janeiro, marking an important step in the development of their research into spiritual space and Yoruba cosmology. The artist has also recently participated at Dos Brasis: arte e pensamento negro in Sesc Quitandinha, 2024, reinforcing their presence within contemporary discussions on Afro-Brazilian identity and diaspora.
Quadra
The solo presentation by Ana Cláudia Almeida is conceived around the relationship between freedom and hope, approached as dynamic forces that traverse body, space, and collective experience. The curatorial proposal foregrounds the dialogue between the works rather than their individual autonomy.
In 2025, Almeida presented Over Again, her first solo exhibition in New York at Stephen Friedman Gallery, featuring new installations, textile works, and paintings. Earlier works were also shown in the exhibition Ana Cláudia Almeida & Tadáskía at Fortes D’Aloia & Gabriel and Quadra, São Paulo, 2024–2025, consolidating the artist’s recent trajectory between Brazil and the United States. She also participated in Alvorada, a group exhibition at Dover Street Market, curated by Sophie de Mello Franco.
Brazilian Art in the Spotlight of International Galleries
Baró
The gallery reported several sales during this edition of the fair. A highlight was the sale of a work by Brazilian artist Bruno Novelli for €30.000 to a Belgian collection. The artist has recently expanded his international visibility, notably with his participation in Exposition Générale at the new Fondation Cartier pour L’art Contemporain building in Paris on view until August 23, 2026.
Additional sales included a piece by Portuguese artist Joana Vasconcelos, acquired in the United Kingdom for $150.000, followed by a work by Ayako Rokkaku purchased by a Spanish collection for $100.000, and a work by Venezuelan artist Elias Crespin sold for $90.000 to a Swiss collection. A work by Violeta Quispe was also placed with a French institution.
Richard Saltoun
The presentation by Richard Saltoun Gallery brings together historical works by Maria Martins and contemporary pieces by Daiara Tukano, highlighting different approaches to myth, spirituality, and cosmology across generations. During the fair, the booth also attracted strong collector interest, including a Canadian client interested in the work of Maria Martins and a Portuguese collector based in Madrid showing interest in Daiara Tukano.
Maria Martins, a key figure of Brazilian modernism associated with Surrealism, is represented by the remarkable portfolio produced in 1946, comprising nine etchings published by the Valentine Gallery in New York and printed by the artist herself. The prints reproduce sculptures originally presented in her exhibition at the Valentine Gallery, several of which later became among her most celebrated works, set against the dense black ink background of the printing plate. Martins personally produced the editions using a small press installed in a room next to her studio, highlighting the experimental and hands-on dimension of her practice. An edition of Maria 1946 (1946), presented at ARCO, was previously exhibited in Maria Martins: Tropical Fictions at MASP – Museu de Arte de São Paulo, 2021.
For Daiara Tukano, an Indigenous artist and activist from the Upper Rio Negro region, the gallery presents a series of paintings and drawings exploring Indigenous cosmogonies. Her recent solo exhibition Pamuri Pati: World of Transformation was presented at the Museu Nacional da República, Brasília, 2023 and later traveled to the Museu de Arte do Rio, 2024. She has also participated in major institutional exhibitions, including Dear Earth at the Hayward Gallery, London, 2023 and Histórias Brasileiras at MASP, São Paulo, 2022, reflecting the growing international recognition of Indigenous perspectives in contemporary art.
Zielinsky
Zielinsky Gallery presents at ARCO a selection that includes several Brazilian artists, among them Carolina Cordeiro, Cisco Merel, Pedro Torres, Valdirlei Dias Nunes and Vera Chaves Barcellos, whose work Epidermic Scapes, 1977 entered the collection of the Museo Reina Sofía, Madrid, in 2023. Their practices explore questions related to the body, geometry, memory, and systems of representation, bringing together different generations and perspectives within contemporary Brazilian art.
Among recent activities, Carolina Cordeiro participated in the group exhibition Adiar a ordem, presented at Galatea, São Paulo (2025), and also took part in Perquirere, held at Zielinsky Barcelona between November 2025 and February 2026. Meanwhile, Pedro Torres presented the solo exhibition Una breve quemadura at Zielinsky Barcelona, on view from February 27 to May 16, 2025, further consolidating his presence within the gallery’s international program.
Travesía Cuatro
Travesía Cuatro presents the brazilian artists Eleonore Koch and Ana Prata, bringing together two generations of Brazilian painting whose practices explore interiority, perception, and the poetic potential of everyday imagery. Koch’s work has recently gained renewed institutional attention, notably with the exhibition Eleonore Koch: Em Cena at the Museu de Arte Contemporânea da Universidade de São Paulo (MAC USP) in 2024, which brought together nearly 190 works spanning her career.
Ana Prata, in turn, has presented several recent exhibitions, including the solo show Secret on the radio at Galeria Luisa Strina, São Paulo in 2025. Her paintings, which move fluidly between figuration and abstraction, continue a research into the intimacy of domestic scenes and the material possibilities of painting.
Elba Benítez
The presentation by Elba Benítez Gallery brings together works by Claudia Andujar, Vik Muniz, and Ernesto Neto, three leading Brazilian artists whose practices span photography, sculpture, and immersive installation while engaging with questions of memory, ecology, and collective experience.
Claudia Andujar has recently received major international institutional recognition, notably with the retrospective The Yanomami Struggle at the Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain, Paris in 2023, which highlighted her decades-long collaboration with the Yanomami people and her role in advocating for Indigenous rights through photography.
Vik Muniz continues to maintain a strong global presence. In 2024 he presented the exhibition Vik Muniz: Rebus at the Museum of Art and Design (MAD), New York in 2024, bringing together works that recreate iconic images through unconventional materials and explore perception, memory, and the circulation of images.
Meanwhile, Ernesto Neto has recently presented large-scale immersive installations in major institutions. Among recent projects is the exhibition Ernesto Neto: Nosso Barco Tambor Terra at the Grand Palais.
This year’s edition also revealed a striking shift in the geography of collectors. The usual presence of American buyers was noticeably absent, largely due to the geopolitical tensions shaping international travel and markets. In their place, European collectors emerged as the primary buyers of Brazilian works during the fair, while Brazilian and broader Latin American collectors themselves were surprisingly scarce among the reported acquisitions.
At the same time, a subtle psychological redirection in collecting choices became perceptible. While painting continues to dominate acquisitions — still representing more than half of the sales reported — growing curiosity was visible around less conventional formats: installations, photography, experimental media, and practices rooted in process, performance, and lived experience. Collectors appear increasingly drawn to works that offer a critical lens on contemporary society and the artist’s own lived reality. Interestingly, and somewhat unexpectedly for a fair historically attentive to these narratives, there was a noticeable cooling of interest toward works explicitly framed around Indigenous and Afro-Brazilian identities.
Beyond these observations, ARCO once again demonstrated how art fairs can function as powerful cultural bridges. At Sophie Su Art Advisory, we accompany collectors in the construction and evolution of their collections, whether they seek to acquire or place Brazilian or international works.
If you are considering buying or selling a work of art, you can contact us directly through the WhatsApp button located at the bottom right of this article to discuss opportunities confidentially.
We thank Miriam Badaró gallery owner and Ana Maria Boschi from Latitude Project for their support and collaboration in the preparation of this article.