Sol Calero Is Thinking of Caracas in Sao Paulo

The Berlin-based, Venezuelan artist Sol Calero has created colorful pavilion beneath the Museu de Arte de São Paulo (MASP) but its welcoming appearance belies the circumstances under which it was created.

Calero, who is scheduled to meet visitors at the pavilion today, July 7, installed her new work, Casa Maria Lionz, as news broke of devastating earthquakes back home.

“It took great effort and concentration to continue building this pavilion while so much loss and suffering was unfolding,” Calero wrote in an Instagram post.

The piece, an ideal hang-out space sheltered by Lina Bo Bardi's museum building, follows the success of Calero's Pabellón Criollo (Criollo Pavilion) at the 2024 Venice Biennale, which was curated by MASP's director, Adriano Pedrosa. That pavilion was inspired by a Venezuelan dish of the same name, which symbolizes the country’s cultural fusion of Indigenous, African, and European influences.

The initiative forms part of MASP’s mission to showcase Latin American artistic perspectives alongside the work of European modern masters.

This month, MASP is also presenting Confluences, a show by the Los Angeles-based Colombian artist Carolina Caycedo. The exhibition addresses social and environmental injustices, particularly those related to water rights and resource exploitation in Latin America.

At the same time, Regina José Galindo: Video Room presents the Guatemala-based artist’s performance works, in which she typically uses her body to confront human rights issues and the enduring legacies of violence.