Ola Uruguay Real Estate and Investments

If you have made the leap to buy a home or apartment, now comes the task of decorating it. Whether you’ve bought a property to use as your home or to rent out, not to be overlooked is how you furnish it and the art you hang. In my opinion, it is not only the architecture of a space that makes it livable, but also what we fill it with. Our objects speak to our personalities, cultural trends, and sometimes our values. We at Ola have done a number of articles about buying furniture in Uruguay, featuring different ways to go about the process. My article Renovating an Apartment in Montevideo, Part III—Furnishing, Tricks of the Trade, talked about how to buy art and furniture at street fairs and auctions. It featured photos of pieces and their prices. Syd wrote a great article about his adventures sourcing custom-made furniture in Uruguay, and Suki just recently wrote a piece specifically focused on buying furniture at local auction houses.

What we have not written about is investing in contemporary artwork in Montevideo. Recognizing that the purchasing of art can be intimidating, I wanted to talk to an expert in the field. I contacted Vivian Honisberg, Director of Galeria SOA (Simplemente Obras de Arte), which is housed in SOA Art Cafe, an adorable space that doubles as a cafe. The idea of the space is to bring art to the people. Coffee acts as the democratic nexus, giving those who maybe would not feel comfortable going to a gallery an excuse to access contemporary and modern art in new ways. The union of coffeehouse and art aims to provoke a different relationship with the art. Patrons can admire a potential purchase, comfortably seated at one of the number of art deco chairs, sofas, or tables (all provided by local design store Mutate, Cebollatí 1326; Tue-Sat 11 to 8:30pm; tel. 9017850). All works hanging are for sale.

Christina: What is your title?

Vivian: I work as a technician in Audio Visual Production. In addition I work with Urugayan art, and I am the director of Galería SOA (Simplemente Obras de Arte).

C: Tell me more about SOA?

V: SOA seeks to accompany Uruguayan artists—established and emerging talent—in diffusing their work to a greater audience. The name Simplemente Obras de Arte doesn’t mean that the works are simple, rather that we want to simplify the process of investing in art. We want people who “don’t know” art to feel free to peruse it, seated over coffee, or standing, as is custom. We want to diminish the traditional stigma attached to art galleries, that one must “know” art to enjoy and purchase it.

C: Recently the New York Times published an article about Uruguay’s Vanguard Art, but with a focus mostly on Punta del Este. What is happening in the art world in Montevideo?

V: Uruguay is a part of the huge global village, and of course it is no stranger to global trends. Contemporary art has been booming for some time in Uruguay, not only in the number of practitioners but also the trend set by the market, the proposals of local art galleries, modern and contemporary art auctions, the selection of works in national exhibitions, and interest among people themselves.

No longer is the work of the Studio Torres Garcia the only art being considered an investment. Today’s Uruguayan contemporary artists have their own place in the market; their work is considered a sound investment. Furthermore, I believe we have a generation of talented contemporary artists here at our fingertips. One must travel only a little bit to see and appreciate their works. Punta Del Este is an incredibly interesting point in this sense, because it is home to a captive international audience, those who not only appreciate, but also buy art from Uruguay. There isn’t much that a gallery must do to attract patrons there. It is no coincidence that there are so many galleries in a town so small, which really only functions for three months a year. Montevideo is different. For this reason, part of the proposed objective of SOA is just to bring art to more people.

It sometimes happens that it is very difficult for Uruguayans themselves to know their own contemporary artists. If one does not frequent auctions, museums, or exhibitions, there is no way to see what artists are doing. What happens, unfortunately, is that then local painters are best known abroad and not in their own country. Such is the case with the great Arden Quin.

Can you describe some of the artists and their works in SOA, who would be of interest to foreigners interested in buying art?

SOA works specifically with young artists who are currently selling their works abroad. We work with (to name a few) Rita Fischer and Ignacio Iturria (both well known outside of Uruguay), Santiago Velazco, Cecilia Mattos, Juan Uría, Felipe Secco, Diego Donner, Martín Pelenur, and Diego Focaccio (whose work is primarily conceptual art). These are all artists who already have a place in the global contemporary art market. Buying a piece of their work is not just a decorative exercise, it is a very good investment.

Buying art can be intimidating. How do you recommend foreigners approach their purchase?

SOA is a gallery with open doors, where you can drink a coffee, eat a salad, all the while being surrounded by works of art. The intention is the opposite of intimidation: it is to close the gap between art and the people. I recommend that your readers come in so we can help recommend what would be best suited for their taste and the amount they want to invest.

SOA Art Café, Constituyente 2046; Mon-Fri 10-8pm, Sat 12-4pm; tel: 4109763.