Luisa Strina

ArtReview, a London-based magazine, makes an annual list of the most powerful and influential people in the international art field. In 2012, Strina was ranked 61st in the British magazine's ranking, ahead of artists and art collectors like Takashi Murakami, John Baldessari, Yayoi Kusama, and Brazilian businessman Bernardo Paz, founder of the Inhotim Institute. Since 2012, her position in the ranking has fluctuated, peaking in 2017 at 49th.

In 1974, Baravelli, who had a studio at street Padre João Manuel, in Cerqueira César neighborhood in São Paulo city, complained about the prices of renting the place, so he suggested Strina open an art gallery there. Strina then founded Galeria Luisa Strina, with an inaugural exhibition that same year, with the participation of artists such as Carlos Fajardo, Edo Rocha, José de Moura Resende Filho, Luiz Paulo Baravelli, Nelson Leirner, Rubens Gerchman, Santuza Andrade, and Wesley Duke Lee. She sought to take Brazilian art to the broader world stage, later telling the Financial Times, “Until 1985, the country was closed to export. We were so isolated. It wasn’t just about women artists, it was any artists.”

Luisa Malzone Strina (born 18 June 1943) is a Brazilian art gallerist and art collector. Her gallery, Galeria Luisa Strina, is the oldest contemporary art gallery in Brazil.

Luisa Malzone Strina was born on 18 June 1943 in São Paulo to Italian parents. Her father came from Northern Italy, and her mother came from Southern Italy. Strina started studying psychology, but dropped out. She also took a nursing course and worked in an insurance company.