With her global appeal, in just a year, prices for the works of Marina Perez Simão have risen by a factor of up to 15. Now, contemporary art lovers in Nanjing have a chance to enjoy the rising, Brazilian star’s first large-scale, solo exhibition in China.
Last Friday, 5 November, saw the opening of Simão’s exhibition at the Sifang Art Museum in Nanjing’s Pukou District, on the slopes of the Laoshan National Park.
The exhibition, entitled “Observatory” and featuring 27 of her works (all untitled), is curated by Diana Campbell, artistic director of Dhaka-based Samdani Art Foundation and chief curator of the Dhaka Art Summit.
Figuration is the current buzzword in the art world. And Simão dishes it out in spades. Taking us on a journey through the unknown, abstract and fuzzy, Simão’s works force us to confront that which is difficult to understand at an unspeakable moment.
While the colourful statements of the obscure shapes defy easy classification, they are united through Simão’s recurring use of the sky, horizon and the Earth’s crust.
The 41-year old Simão studied at the Beaux-Arts de Paris; her work has ever since been gestating. Long revered by many other Brazilian artists, it was just last year that she got the attention of the international mainstream.
Showing with São Paulo-based Mendes Wood DM since 2010, interest was piqued after Simão exhibited last year at the gallery’s satellite space in Brussels. Speaking with Artsy, gallery co-owner, Pedro Mendes, said, “Before we knew it, we had a 50-person-long waiting list for each painting”.
And so as of Friday, Nanjing joined the list of top international destinations to have hosted exhibitions of these swirling, multicolour landscapes by the emerging Brazilian talent; Brussels, New York, Paris, Rome and São Paulo, among others.
Elsewhere, Simão’s work can be found in the Long Museum in Shanghai, Musée D’Art Moderne et Contemporain de Saint-Étienne, Samdani Art Foundation in Bangladesh and in the Dallas Museum of Art.
Thinking of popping to Pukou for a purchase? Top up your AliPay beforehand. This time last year, Simão‘s works were going for US$6,000 – 35,000. Half a year later, she was commanding prices up to 10 times those. Today? We wouldn’t be surprised if you need hand over six figures. But there’s no denying it would a great investment, for Simão is here to stay.
”Observatory” by Marina Perez Simão in Nanjing runs until 27 February, 2022.
