At London’s new Latin American art fair Paraíso, a decade-in-the-making exhibition finally debuts
Previously unseen works by the late Mexican conceptual artist feature in Latin American fair’s inaugural edition
At the entrance of Paraíso, one of several satellite fairs debuting during Frieze week, is a display that was meant to be staged a decade prior. Felipe Ehrenberg: 26 Maculate Letters from Mexico | An Unfinished Conversation presents previously unseen works by the late Mexican conceptual artist and mimeographer. While in exile in England in the late 1960s and early 1970s, Ehrenberg became enamoured with the UK postal service, inspiring him to begin a mail art practice.
The works on display at the Somers Gallery stand are curated by their addressee, Fortunata Calabrò, a researcher and friend of the late artist. The digitally collagead letters, cards and envelopes were due to be collated into an exhibition in 2016, but the show was cancelled when Ehrenberg’s health took a downward turn. He died the following year. For Paraíso, Calabrò has revived the cancelled exhibition, including archival documents and photography from the 2016 show; some earlier hand-collaged mail art; and a new editioned artist book. The exhibition is tied together with a quote from the artist: “Who sends a letter is always waiting for an answer.”
Ehrenberg’s observation is fitting for the origins of Paraíso (paradise in Spanish). The fair was founded by Javier Calderón, who also launched the Somers Gallery in London, which itself focuses on Latin American art. Paraíso is the first Latin American art fair in the UK capital since Pinta ceased its London edition in 2015.
The inaugural edition of the fair features 22 exhibitors and has a special focus on Mexican art. The venue, Ambika P3, is a vast subterranean space and former concrete construction hall.
To bring galleries on board, Calderón and his team put out calls to their network and contacted Latin American galleries they knew had previously exhibited in London. “It was very Latino of us,” says Manuela Rodríguez, an art consultant and fair partner, referencing the community-led nature of the project.
Galleries hail from Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Chile, Peru and Bolivia, as well as local UK galleries with a regional focus, such as Astéri Contemporary, which specialises in artists from the UK and Brazil. Rodríguez is also an exhibitor, showing six Latino artists from the Royal College of Art with her Bogotá-based consultancy LAACC, co-founded with Laura Montañés. Prices are accessible; some of the works at the LAACC stand are priced at just £300, and many works across the fair have four-figure price tags, including Ehrenberg’s mail art. Buyers with deeper pockets may look to Mexico City gallery Acapulco 62, offering a monumental wooden carving by Germán Venegas for £64,000.
The Thursday VIP preview drew a mixed but enthusiastic crowd, with galleries reporting offers in the first hour. Many guests hailed from beyond London’s Latino scene, perhaps best exemplified by one hungry attendee asking the fair’s Mexican street food pop-up, “what is chipotle?” The organisers will have to see if they can deliver on reintroducing Latin American art and culture to the British set by Paraíso’s closure on Sunday evening.
- Paraíso , Ambika P3, 35 Marylebone Rd, London, until 18 October
