IBIZA.- CAN, Contemporary Art Now, is a new art fair that aims to become an innovative platform to discover the latest in the current creative scene, emphasizing the new languages that have emerged or are in the process of, but making room for the proposals of established artists who have excelled in recent decades.
The fair will take place from July 13th to 17th in Ibiza. During 5 days, the island will become a meeting point for artists, art collectors, enthusiasts and personalities of the local and international cultural world. CAN will be the major art event during the summer. CAN, Contemporary Art Now, is an initiative by Sergio Sancho, a cultural promoter who already surprised the scene six years ago with UVNT Art Fair (Urvanity), another fair that has become a must-attend event in February during Madrid’s Art Week. “CAN means ‘house of’ in Ibizan. We aspire to be the hosts of the avant-garde of the current scene. Hence our surname, now. The island is an inexhaustible source of inspiration in many artistic facets, we think it can also be in art as it is in music, gastronomy, fashion... or in hospitality,” explains Sancho.
In its first edition, it will bring together around thirty international contemporary art galleries from Europe, America and Asia. Nanzuka Underground (Tokyo), Carl Kostyál (London/ Stockholm), WOAW Gallery (Hong Kong), M+B Gallery (Los Angeles), 1969 Gallery (New York), Ruttkowski;68 (Cologne/Düsseldorf/Paris) or Dio Horia (Athens), among others, have already confirmed their presence. From the Spanish side, ArtNueve (Murcia), L21 Gallery (Palma de Mallorca), Galería Alegría (Barcelona), Veta (Madrid) y Polígrafa (Barcelona). We will find works by Ana Barriga, Javi Calleja, Jordi Ribes, Pablo Benzo, Stefan Rinck, Christian Rex Van Minnen, Sally Kindberg, Jake Clark, Matt Bollinger, Chechu Álava, CB Hoyo, Marria Pratts, Ryan Travis Christian, Travis Fish, Julio Anaya Cabbanding, James Jarvis, Imon Boy…
An art fair by invitation
What makes CAN stand out is the curatorial work carried out by the critic and disseminator, Sasha Bogojev. In each edition, he will identify and invite a selection of galleries that, because of their trajectory and programming, are tracing the panorama of the current artistic scene. “These are galleries that are situated at the forefront of the emerging world art scene. By focusing on emerging and mid-career creators, there is a strong affinity towards figuration among the works on display, which will give the whole fair a very focused and distinctive appeal,” explains the curator, adding that “the reaction has been very positive because of the concept and, above all, the location. Many people in the art world seem to have some kind of connection to the island that I wasn’t aware of and are willing to be part of this edition and were ready to go out of their way to work out a way to be part of the inaugural year.”
The fair will be held at the island’s exhibition venue (FECOEV), on the outskirts of Dalt Vila, with a careful architectural design where spaciousness and natural light will play a leading role. This meeting, in the month of July, promises art and plenty of sunshine, -the fair will be open only during the afternoons-, but also with unique experiences with programs of parallel events, private visits to institutions and collections or music nights until dawn. “We want to create connections, become a relaxed gathering. Ibiza has traditionally been a sanctuary for artists and creators. In the sixties, there was the ‘Ibiza 59 Group’ and there is a good supply of local galleries,” Sancho declares. “Our goal is to strengthen the alliances of international galleries with national ones. That artists from here can enter the international circuit and that those from abroad become better known in our country”.
