The Most Unusual Things: A Conversation With Rosario Güiraldes

To say that Rosario Güiraldes was immersed in art from an early age would be an understatement.

As a teenager, her mother opened a gallery in their Buenos Aires home, creating an environment where conversations about art became part of daily life. “Being in close proximity to artists and having regular conversations about their work normalized the idea of living with art — discussing how they made their work, and more importantly, why,” she recalls.

Since those formative years Güiraldes has built an impressive career, holding curatorial roles at leading institutions across the U.S., Europe and Latin America. She now lives in Minneapolis, where she serves as Curator of Visual Arts at the Walker Art Center.  

This year, Güiraldes returns to EXPO CHICAGO to curate the “beating heart” of the fair — the EXPOSURE section, which highlights solo and two-artist presentations from galleries less than a decade old. We recently caught up with Güiraldes to discuss her approach to curating EXPOSURE, her sources of inspiration, and the increasingly vital role emerging artists play in shaping contemporary discourse.

Growing up with a gallery literally in your home spurred your curiosity for the arts, but what inspired you to become a curator?  

I couldn’t imagine doing anything else — it always felt like important work. I’ve always had profound admiration for the role that artists play in society: observing culture and phenomena, and reflecting on what it means to be alive. I believe it’s incredibly important work.  Art can be such a powerful tool in helping us understand things and see the world in new ways, or imagine it anew.

One of the earliest encounters with art that left a profound impact on me was in 2001, when I saw an exhibition at [art institution] Fundación Proa in Buenos Aires called Images of the Unconscious. The show featured works created by patients in a psychiatric hospital experiencing schizophrenia. One artist, Arthur Bispo de Rosário, stood out for his incredible embroidered pieces. One, in particular — a poncho — he had spent years meticulously embroidering.

That encounter gave me an understanding of what art can offer in a life: a vehicle to understand reality and re-imagine it. After seeing that show, I knew I wanted to formalize the insights I had gained from growing up in a unique and atypical environment.

Where do you find inspiration to inform your work?

Anything and everything inspires me. It’s important to stay curious and, fundamentally, to spend time with artists. The most meaningful moments often happen when you engage in conversations and remain open to learning and discovering what you don’t yet know.

I try to look at art as much as I can — by visiting museums, galleries, doing studio visits, travelling as much as I can, and essentially actively participating in the field. I also make an effort to read and stay informed about issues that feel relevant, both within contemporary art discourse and in the broader world. 

This is your second year curating EXPOSURE. What is your approach to curating the space?

EXPOSURE is different than, for instance, IN/SITU, because it’s not defined by a single unifying theme. Instead, the themes emerge from the questions, ideas, and methodologies of the artists and participating galleries. Our goal is to geographically represent a broad range of practices and programs — both regionally within the Midwest, but also across the U.S., and globally. This year, we have representation from Lithuania, South Africa, Argentina, Japan, Brazil, and Iran.

Each gallery takes a unique approach to what it means to represent an ‘emerging artist.’ There are many questions about what it means to live and make work in this particular moment. I’m seeing themes of identity, migration and diaspora, as well as the environment and climate change. There’s also a noticeable shift towards a younger generation of artists taking on surrealist approaches to art-making. I connect this to Cecilia Alemani’s The Milk of Dreams Venice Biennale, which contextualized many contemporary practices within a historical lineage of a key generation of female surrealist artists, such as Leonora Carrington, Frida Kahlo, and Remedios Varo. Our aim is to offer a comprehensive representation of how emerging artists are working today. 

What impact do you see emerging artists having on the broader art world in 2025?

Being an artist today is a professional path, and over the years, it has evolved more as a highly professionalized career. As you grow in your practice, especially when you become a commercially successful artist with a large studio and many employees, the margin for error becomes much smaller, particularly when it comes to artistic experimentation.

When you’re younger, there’s less at risk, which gives emerging artists the opportunity and freedom to create work that is discursively challenging and provocative, without worrying about its market appeal. Emerging artists are crucial for pushing discourse in that direction.

I’ve had conversations with artists at that juncture — where they are highly successful, excellent at what they do, and in demand in the market. The question becomes: How do they create a space in which they can continue to push their practice and reinvent themselves? It’s incredibly important, not just for artists, but for all of us. If we were all expected to do our work the same way forever, simply because it’s been validated, there would be no room for growth.

You’ve worked both in large and small art markets. Considering that experience and the artists featured at EXPO from underrepresented locations, what do emerging art markets offer to collectors?

In my role at the Walker Art Center, I can see how practices in smaller cities can be supported compared to those in larger, coastal metropolitan areas. In an institution like the Walker, there’s an incredibly rich exhibition history, an outstanding collection, and an abundance of resources, space, and an excellent team at the disposal of artists we work with. This provides the space, time, and support for artists to push their practices, without the pressure of an institution in a big city, where all eyes are on you. It’s an environment where an artist’s practice can be nurtured and supported. In my opinion, having this kind of support is rare, and the artists I have worked with at the Walker truly value that.

How can collectors discover emerging artists, and what do you think they should be thinking about when it comes to collecting their work?

It’s really difficult to do this on the basis of trying to identify and follow trends. I think it’s important to collect what resonates with you — works that you feel like you’d really like to live with, every day. Every collector finds a lens, whether it’s a medium or a theme, that personally speaks to them. That connection is unique for everyone.

My recommendation is to stay connected to art. See exhibitions, stay informed, see what museums, curators, and critics are interested in. Read about art in magazines, journals, newspapers, and online publications. Travel to other cities and countries, go to biennials, and visit museums and galleries in other countries. Be genuinely curious — visit spaces, visit artist studios, and build relationships with them. You won’t regret it.

EXPO CHICAGO takes place at Navy Pier in Chicago, April 24-27.

Northern Trust is proud to serve as sponsor of EXPO Chicago for the 11th consecutive year. Each year, we collaborate with the fair to select artworks from the fair’s EXPOSURE section to be purchased for the permanent collections of three institutions.