Galeria Athena Contemporânea

Athena Contemporânea Gallery has been active in the city of Rio de Janeiro since 2011, establishing itself rapidly as an innovative space for creation, discussion, and dissemination of contemporary art in Brazil. In order to promote new artistic research, the gallery’s main proposal is to circulate the work of young Brazilian and foreign artists, mediating dialogues that stimulate the creation of meaning and critical thought. 

In addition to exhibition space, the gallery also seeks to position itself as a place of research, conceptual understanding and artistic exchange, always searching for innovative initiatives in today’s art. This way, it invests heavily in partnerships with young curators and the development of its artist’s careers, activating their participation in cultural projects of public and private initiative, public-notices, art awards, artistic residencies, and biennales.

One proposal the gallery backs entirely is the project Ocupa-se (Occupy), that grants free occupation of the gallery space by an invited artist, to act as a place for conceptual research on their artistic expression. Through yearly editions, it offers the visiting public a unique opportunity to approach the artist’s output, breeding new forms of interpretation and discussions on certain productions.
 
Similarly, the regular programme of the gallery is organized with the freedom for every kind of artistic action in view, to aid the conceptual development and intellectual broadening of the artist and their production at each event. It furthermore consolidates its role as an agent of cultural incentive in stimulating a programme that opens space and pathways to social, political, and philosophical discourse that are essential for society to view the world itself as a process.

Athena Contemporânea gallery’s participation in important national and international fairs has widened its network of relationships and catalysed other cultural projects in its space. Above all allowing the public to come into contact with part of the work that it develops, the conceptual and aesthetic knitting conceived especially for each event. We believe that in this way the selected pieces become no longer simple objects but also assume the character of touching and changing people around them.