Artist-run spaces in Brazil foster community and residencies

Casa Tomada, founded by Tainá Azeredo and Thereza Farkas in 2009 in São Paulo's Jardim Vila Mariana, serves as an informal studio and meeting place, offering two annual group residencies without fees but with dinners, seminars, and access to a library. In Rio de Janeiro, Capacete, established in 1998 and currently led by Helmut Batista, functions as an open platform involving over a thousand artists and curators, with residencies in a guesthouse and past collaborations like a 2008 show at Friedrich Petzel in New York and a programme with the Office of Contemporary Art Norway. Ateliê 397 in São Paulo, active since 2003, uses its challenging architecture to host exhibitions and talks, including a site-specific homage to Claes Oldenburg by Tiago Gomes and the group show Superperformance curated by Yiftah Peled in summer 2012. A Gentil Carioca in Rio, run by artists Marcio Botner, Laura Lima, and Ernesto Neto, operates as a nonprofit commercial gallery participating in fairs such as Art Basel and Frieze London, with Botner managing administration and teaching at Parque Lage Visual Arts School while planning an additional space nearby. These spaces emphasize local and international artist engagement, with Casa Tomada ensuring a mix of São Paulo-based and other participants, and Ateliê 397 supporting over 40 exhibitions in nine years.