Summer is generally a quiet period in terms of art events. A season when galleries usually put up fun group shows, museums offer extra benefits to lure visitors indoors, and most art fairs are recouping for the next season. But, unlike those, the newly established CAN art fair in Ibiza is about to open its doors for its 2nd edition! Located at Recinto Ferial (FECOEV) complex between 12th-16th of July, just minutes drive out of the island's main town, Dalt Vila, the young fair is establishing itself as one of the major art happenings in Europe.
After its successful inaugural edition last year, the fair that is proudly boosting its love and focus on contemporary figuration is back with another lineup of familiar names from around the world. Many of the participating artists and galleries are frequently showcased in Juxtapoz, so we're excited to see them all under one roof. In that way, CAN, which means “house of” in Ibizan, becomes the sunny house of contemporary figuration for a few days. Curated by writer and curator Saša Bogojev, and organized by the team behind the UVNT art fair in Madrid, the fair will feature 37 galleries, presenting the latest in contemporary art with a focus on new and emerging artistic languages as well as more established artists. “At CAN Ibiza, we play host to the best of the current avant-garde art scene in a relaxed atmosphere that allows visitors to connect not only over the inspiring art but also the best music, food, and nightlife the island has to offer. Ibiza has traditionally been a sanctuary for artists and creators, and there is a growing gallery scene on the island that we are excited to be exploring through the fair’s OFF program and the wider events of Ibiza Art Week,” says Sergio Sancho, Founding Director of CAN Ibiza. "This edition of the CAN Art Fair is directly continuing on what we started last year. We've "brushed the edges" and are bringing an even more focused selection of galleries with fine-tuned fair layouts, with some 70% of galleries that were with us last year and some 15-ish new names," Bogojev told us. With the majority of exhibitors, such as The Hole, Stems, Plan X, VETA, Anna Zorina Gallery, Olympia, 1969, or Ruttkowski; 68, putting on group presentations, the fair is also including solo booths of work by Gianni di Rosa (Galerie Rolando Anselmi), Laust Højgaard (Galerie Droste x NBB Gallery), Juan De La Rica (Over The Influence), or Andrew Salgado (Beers London), amongst others.
As well as offering an enriched collectors' program of visits and events, CAN Ibiza is at the center of now emerging Ibiza Art Week. Local galleries, institutions, and private collections have organized a range of exhibitions and events across the island timed concurrently with the fair, giving visibility to the vibrant cultural ecosystem emerging on Ibiza - Carl Kostyàl gallery, a participant in CAN for the second consecutive year, presents a pop-up exhibition, Painters of Modern Life at Casa Cardinale in Dalt Villa. The art space Can Garita, located in a traditional fisherman’s hut, launches with an exhibition of paintings by the American artist Grason Ratowsky, who lives between Mallorca and New York. La Nave Salinas Foundation launches a site-specific project by Jonny Niesche that sits halfway between installation and painting. La Carpintería, the production and exhibition space of the Ses12naus foundation, hosts a studio visit with Spanish artist-in-residence Andrés Izquierdo as well as Art Talks with Nina Beier and Simon Dybbroe Møllert. MACE (Museo de arte Contemporáneo de Ibiza) presents Valkyrie Crown, an exhibition of large-format sculptures by Portuguese artist Joana Vasconcelos.