Justo Werlang's Collection Strategy Showcased in Siron Franco Exhibition at Farol Santander

The exhibition 'Armadilha para capturar sonhos' at Farol Santander in Porto Alegre presents 63 paintings by Siron Franco from the collection of businessman Justo Werlang. Curated by Gabriel Pérez-Barreiro, former curator of the 33rd Bienal de São Paulo, the show runs until October 22 and exemplifies Werlang's specific approach to collecting. Werlang insists that exhibitions of his collection must focus on a single artist to reveal their artistic trajectory, rather than mixing works from different artists. His collection includes artists like Iberê Camargo, Xico Stockinger, Nelson Felix, Daniel Senise, Mauro Fuke, and Felix Bressan, acquired over three decades. Werlang, 67, holds significant institutional roles, having helped found the Fundação Iberê Camargo and the Fundação Bienal do Mercosul, and served on the board of the Fundação Bienal de São Paulo. The exhibition is structured into seven thematic nuclei—Cosmos, Segredos, Mitos, Homem, Biomas, Violência and Césio—the latter featuring Franco's notable series on the 1987 Césio-137 radioactive contamination disaster in Goiânia. Works span from 1973's 'Argonauta' to 2026's 'A grande rede'. This is the second exhibition at Farol Santander focusing on Werlang's collection logic, following a 2017 show of Karin Lambrecht's works.