ETHNIC ART : A Brazilian Beat for Painters, Sculptors : Exhibits: Two cousins open a showcase for South American art in Encino.

The moment that rock star David Byrne added a Brazilian beat to his repertoire, a groundswell of such music, which had vibrated in the background of the American music scene, burst forth as a full-fledged pop phenomenon. Samba singers and Rio-style nightclubs have since prospered from this country’s thirst for world music.

But visual artists from South America’s largest country have not fared as well, remaining largely ignored and unseen in the north. A new and small gallery in Encino represents a rare outlet for these painters and sculptors.

Toulouse Gallery was opened in August by cousins Claudio and Patrick Valansi, a pair of Rio de Janeiro art promoters determined to bring their compatriot artists to the United States.

“From 1985 until now, I have visited New York and Los Angeles. I noticed there wasn’t any Brazilian art,” said Claudio Valansi, speaking through an interpreter during a telephone interview from one of his two Brazilian galleries. “Since Latin American artists are in vogue right now, I thought it would be a good idea to expose people to Brazilian art.”

This mission was launched as a result of two remote components.

First, the pair already owned the two successful galleries in their homeland, so they were well-connected to that art scene. Second, and no less important, their family holdings included a strip mall along Ventura Boulevard that had a vacant storefront.

The Valansi cousins would prefer to have a gallery in Santa Monica or along Melrose Boulevard, but for now they are making do with a small space tucked between a dry cleaner and a karate studio on a less-than-fashionable section of the boulevard.

The gallery’s premiere exhibit includes work from more than a dozen Brazilian painters and an American sculptor. The styles and themes vary widely.

Ricardo Newton provides stark and angular scenes of city life, of solitary men on graffiti-marked streets. Jonas Eduardo’s “Forbidden Planet” is a cartoonish, muted purple sendup of Japanese science-fiction films.

Other work is subtler. Vich and Aldo de Paula Fonseca contribute landscapes and floral paintings. Shadowy figures inhabit the color-stained and streaked works of Sebastiao Rodrigues.

Herbert Markenson says his abstract paintings are perfect for Los Angeles because of their reds and blacks.

“Strong colors,” he said during a recent visit to the United States. “California colors.”

Valansi insists that, heretofore, Brazilian artists have not sufficiently pressed their work on American gallery owners. Toulouse’s Los Angeles opening was widely publicized in Brazil, and Valansi has since been deluged with portfolios from artists wanting to be shown here.

“That’s a dream of any Brazilian artist, to come to the United States and be successful,” he said. “Rio and Sao Paulo are not enough exposure for them.”

Markenson, for one, is grateful for the opportunity.

“For all Brazilian artists, it is important to have people who don’t know us see our work, for them to say it is good or bad,” he said. “Those opinions are very important to us.”

Toulouse’s most famous artist, Rubens Gerchman, has already sold several paintings. But so far, the gallery is attracting only a few visitors each day. Often, they are people who come to pick up some cleaning or drop children off for an afternoon karate lesson, said Patty Sue Jones, who currently runs the gallery with her sheep dog, Oliver.

Toulouse sells books and small Brazilian bronzes as well.

“It will take at least one or two years to catch on,” Valansi said. “We need to create a taste for these artists and acquire a group of collectors who appreciate this kind of art.”

Toulouse Gallery is at 16733 Ventura Blvd., No. 9, Encino. For information, call (818) 907-5290.