©Francisco Valdés, Chilean, b. 1968. Riccardo Muti (gothike plastike) II, 2026. Oil on canvas and collage, 56.5 x 96 cm, 22 1/4 x 37 3/4 in. Courtesy of Cecilia Brunson Projects
Paraíso
Latin American Art Fair
London
October 15–18, 2026
I am truly delighted to welcome you to the first English edition of B26 Art From Latin America.
This new chapter is about reaching further, opening new conversations, and sharing what B26 has been building over many years with a wider international audience.
I’m so happy to have you here!
Fittingly, this first issue opens with another debut: Paraíso, London's first fair dedicated to Latin American art. Founded by Javier Calderón, it takes place from October 15–18 at Ambika P3, a former concrete testing hall below the University of Westminster on Marylebone Road. It brings together galleries, independent artists, and art initiatives from Latin America and its diaspora.
Who are the galleries and initiatives that support these artists and carry their work beyond its immediate context? What stories do the artists themselves tell? Here are a few encounters worth seeking out at Paraíso.
European and Latin American imaginaries: Claure, Fullerton-Batten, Risi
The Light Gallery brings four artists to Paraíso, two of whom explore how European and Latin American imaginaries travel across borders and take on new meanings.
Bolivian artist River Claure reimagines Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s The Little Prince through the landscapes, traditions and visual language of contemporary Andean culture. German-born, London-based photographer Julia Fullerton-Batten takes the opposite route: her series Frida / A Singular Vision of Beauty & Pain revisits the iconic figure of Frida Kahlo, the result of extensive research and a period of immersion in Mexican culture.
©Son of the stars 2020, River Claure. Courtesy of The Light Gallery, London.
©Frida - A singular vision of Beauty & Pain 2024, Julia Fullerton-Batten. Courtesy of The Light Gallery, London.
In a similar vein, Vesper Tzu presents Peruvian artist Alessandra Risi, whose work reconfigures historical narratives to explore her Latin American roots and European ancestry. In the reading of curator Francesca Fantoni, materials such as books and stamps become tools for rethinking colonial and capitalist systems, while nature appears both as an instrument of power and as something inherently vulnerable.
©Alessandra Risi. Untitled, 2026. Oil on canvas, 129 cm x 160 cm. Courtesy of Vesper Tzu Gallery.
©Alessandra Risi. Paisaje climax mini, 2026. Oil on canvas, 80 cm x 60 cm. Courtesy of Vesper Tzu Gallery.
©Yone Makino. Dormir en el pasto. Oil on canvas, 27 cm × 27 cm. Courtesy of Vesper Tzu Gallery.
©Yone Makino. Sunday walks. Oil on canvas, 30 cm × 27 cm. Courtesy of Vesper Tzu Gallery.
Memory, censorship, and distance: Valdés, Hernández
Founded in London in 2013, Cecilia Brunson Projects is dedicated to Latin American art. At Paraíso, the gallery presents Chilean artist Francisco Valdés.
Valdés draws on the legacy of artists who developed coded conceptual languages in response to censorship under Chile's military dictatorship (1973–1990), when access to visual culture was often distorted, delayed, or ideologically filtered. Critics have compared his work to that of Sigmar Polke, particularly in how it questions the way we perceive images, media, and history.
©Francisco Valdés. Palm, 2026. Oil on canvas, 106 x 70 cm. Courtesy of the artist and Cecilia Brunson Projects. Photography: Mónica Pérez.
©Francisco Valdés. Black Cascade, 2025. Oil, acrylic and photographic emulsion on canvas, 200 x 150 cm. Courtesy of the artist and Cecilia Brunson Projects. Photography: Mónica Pérez.
©Francisco Valdés. Pingpongball II, 2026. Oil on canvas, 50 x 40 cm. Courtesy of the artist and Cecilia Brunson Projects Photography: Mónica Pérez
©Francisco Valdés. Ping Pong I, 2026. Oil and acrylic on canvas, 130 x 180 cm. Courtesy of the artist and Cecilia Brunson Projects. Photography: Mónica Pérez
Based in Santiago and focused on contemporary art from the Global South, Isabel Croxatto Galería has championed emerging and mid-career Chilean artists since 2012. Its Living with Art concept encourages a personal, direct relationship between people and artworks. At Paraíso, it presents Nelson Hernández, a Chilean painter born in Patagonia and now based in London. The distance between these two worlds—one of the planet’s most remote regions and a global art capital—lies at the heart of his practice. His paintings explore what happens to local identities and cultural differences as they begin to dissolve in an increasingly globalized world.
©Nelson Hernández, Ozymandias, Oil on linen, 100 x 80 cm, 2026, Courtesy of Isabel Croxatto Galería.
©Nelson Hernández, The Death of Boatmemory, Oil on linen, 170 x 190 cm, 2025, Courtesy of Isabel Croxatto Galería.
Beyond the canvas / Painting and practice: Quimera, Mena Pacheco
Some participants come to Paraíso not only as exhibitors but as platforms. Quimera combines contemporary art, curatorial practice, and publishing, creating a meeting point for artists and curators across disciplines. With a focus on mid-career artists, its program extends well beyond exhibitions to research, education, and collaborative projects.
©Quimera gallery, Nina Kovensky, Realidad disminuida, 2024
©Quimera gallery, Julio Hilger, Untitled, Ceramic, 26 x 27 x 20cm, 2025
Finally, painting takes center stage at Acapulco 62, which brings Mexico City–based artist Alfonso Mena Pacheco to London. His work turns away from narrative to focus on the language of painting itself: color, texture, surface, and space. Trained at La Esmeralda, Mexico City's renowned art school, he has received numerous awards and fellowships and has taught at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM)
©Alfonso Mena, Sin título, 2026. Cortesía de Acapulco62.
©Alfonso Mena, Sin título, 2026. Cortesía de Acapulco62.