If you had wandered into the halls of the Pinta Art Fair at the Metropolitan Pavillion in Chelsea the week before Thanksgiving, it would have seemed like there was no financial crisis going on outside – the fifty five participating galleries were doing a steady business (OK, a $ 2 million piece apparently did not change hands), and during that weekend the total sales topped the $ 4 million mark – a number that is not exactly large considering the level of the art displayed there – including pieces by artists like Colombia's Fernando Botero and Jesus Rafael Soto – but is nevertheless inspiring in times like these.

During the opening event, I joined a crowd that filled the pavilion to capacity – the large crowd that included specialized art critics, collectors and other industry-related professionals seemed enthralled with everything that was going on, and everyone seemed quite hopeful.

The works displayed at PINTA catered from every taste – going from more traditional oils to sculptures and more conceptual and complicated installations – one included a cybernetic painting made by Miami-based Elias Crispit with a fully loaded iMac computer that changed its configuration according to the local weather and temperature. According to what he told me, the piece changes every few minutes, with sequences that don't repeat themselves for a lifetime.

PINTA provided a great experience for anyone interested in Latin America art,” stated fair director  Diego Costa Peuser.  “The fair achieved its goal of fostering an artistic and cultural exchange in New York. In addition, I’m happy to say that even in these difficult economic times, all of the galleries reported sales, which is a positive sign for the art market in general.”Pinta was a great opportunity to discover emerging artists from Latin America – in one of the pavillions, there was a photo montage in which the grill of an old Ford replaced a Rio de Janeiro building.

The best thing about Pinta was the chance to discover works from younger (and more affordable) artists in a much larger scale than, say, a Chelsea art opening. It took hours of browsing to see everything that was shown there – and it was worth every minute.

“PINTA 2007 was a good experience for us, so it was an easy decision to come back," said Jay Auslander of New York's Hosfelt Gallery. “This year we sold many things; the Fogg Art Museum at Harvard bought two pieces by Liliana Porter."