Sliding stock markets, gloomy economic forecasts, possible pandemics - it really is time to bring on the sun. Vivid, colourful and exuberant, an exhibition of Latin American contemporary art may be just what the doctor ordered to brighten our drab horizons.

Exuberant works: Botero's monumental US$1.4 million 'Ballerini' is a sculpture that flaunts solidity and rhythm.

True, few could afford the monumental US$1.4 million Fernando Botero sculpture that's currently standing in the courtyard of Robertson Quay, part of the Opera Gallery show that opened last week.

But just looking at the two giant, graceful dancing figures, their hands clasped in dignified and joyous wonderment, could put the sway back in anyone's step. Called Ballerini, the sculpture flaunts solidity and rhythm, an imperturbable cadence that may serve us well at this time.

Then there are the works of Romero Britto, where the worlds of art, whimsy and commerce collide. The Brazilian artist has delighted children, adults and corporations alike for two decades now with his bright, distinct paintings and lacquered sculptures. His pieces bear a certain facile Hello-Kittyness that may unnerve some, but there's no denying that this artist walks resolutely on the sunny side of the street.

'These talented artists create art from the heart with an energy for life that can be very contagious,' said Stephane Le Pelletier, Asia-Pacific director of the Opera Gallery. 'They are refreshing and exciting, and this is something that I feel people appreciate now more than ever.'

He said the gallery had been receiving many requests from its clients for South American contemporary art. 'We thought it would be appropriate to satisfy these demands, especially during these uncertain times.'

The exhibition, called Evolution: The Emergence of Latin American Contemporary Art, not only displays well-established names such as Botero, Britto and Antonio Segui, but lesser-known ones such as Ahmed Gomez, Ruben Berland, Diego Masi and Federico Uribe.

'Evolution aims to reflect the diversity, individuality and universality of Latin American artists,' said Mr Le Pelletier. 'The similarity that binds them is the rich culture that these artists share. They come from Colombia, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Cuba and Uruguay - exciting countries with rich but often complicated histories, and each artist brings with them a voice filled with ideas and attitudes.'

'Attitude' is certainly a good word to describe the works of Uribe, who constructs his huge paintings - or are they sculptures? - out of colour pencils. His Tiger has to be seen to be believed; as a printed image in the catalogue, it looks two-dimensional like any other painting, but when you gaze at the actual work itself, you realise that the depiction of a wild cat in a jungle is composed of pencils poked into the canvas, or backing, of the 1.83 x 1.22 m picture.

The pencils are cut off at varying lengths to give an uneven, jagged relief, while their different coloured lead ends provide the picture with its shadings and hues. It's startling, all right, and Uribe's works have a savage quality accentuated by his subject matter. The Colombian's sculptures of human torsos, for example, which can be made out of pencils as well as jigsaw-puzzle pieces, have a punk, Amazonian air.

Another highly original artist is the Uruguay-born Masi, whose large oil studies of bovine-like creatures are both striking and slightly disturbing. Whereas Uribe seeks to make his paintings as three-dimensional as possible, Masi explores how to give volume and depth to objects - in this case vague forms of black-and-white cows - while keeping to a flat surface. His writhing shapes twist and turn until they become at once abstract and endomorphic, lifeless yet animal-like.

Perhaps the best antidote for our troubled times are the works of the Argentine master Segui. Segui paints man in urban settings, the humble homo sapiens weaving his way through a crowd, navigating the maze of junctions, crossroads, traffic lights and skyscrapers of modern life. Across the years, Segui has come to give the many manifestations of his Everyman a single name - Senor Gustavo, the anti-hero who has to deal with all the horrors and sameness of the industrialised world.

Segui demonstrates that, besides flamboyance and flair, Latin American art - in so far as one can categorise these things - is also a tremendous fount of wit and intellect. Gustavo may sometimes look like a prisoner of the city, but Segui has also depicted him more light-heartedly, as a placid soul constantly getting out of scrapes. Gustavo's constant reappearance is itself a kind of victory, a blithe and free-spirited triumph over all circumstances. Unhurried, un-harried, he moves on.

'Evolution: The Emergence of Latin American Contemporary Art' is on at Opera Gallery from now till May 17.

This article was first published in The Business Times.