White Cube is to close its São Paulo gallery in August three years after setting up in the Brazilian city. The gallery’s current exhibition of new paintings by the Brazilian-born artist Christian Rosa (until 22 August) will be its last, as reported in the newspaper, Folha de São Paulo.
White Cube São Paulo opened in December 2012 in a converted warehouse in the centre of the city, on a three-year lease. The gallery launched after a one-off project in the space by Antony Gormley, Facts and Systems, organised in conjunction with the British artist’s major exhibition at the Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil São Paulo in the summer of 2012.
In a statement, White Cube says it will now focus on “special projects” in Brazil, “as was the impetus when the gallery was first introduced to the region”. According to a spokeswoman, no projects have been confirmed yet.
Peter Brandt, the co-director of the São Paulo outpost with Karla Meneghel, says he will “continue to be based in Brazil and work on behalf of White Cube”. Meneghel is “taking the opportunity to pursue her other projects”, the spokeswoman says.
Since it was established, the gallery has hosted a series of successful exhibitions by artists including Tracey Emin, Damien Hirst, Anselm Kiefer, Larry Bell and Theaster Gates. However, the heavy tax on imports, which can almost double the price of works bought abroad, is known to have been a hindrance to the Brazilian art market.
White Cube has traditionally focused on London, where it has two galleries, but in March 2012 it also opened a space in Hong Kong.
