In its third edition, CAN Contemporary Art Now brings its dates forward to the last days of June and becomes the opening of the summer, of course, artistic. Already during its first edition (2022), the fair managed to position the island as the epicentre of the international art world during the summer season. With around 40 galleries from as far afield as Japan, Los Angeles and Hong Kong, it is now a platform for discovering the latest in contemporary creation.
The 2024 edition will take place between 26 and 30 June and thus marks the start of the season. As in previous years, it will be held at FECOEV, the island’s exhibition centre. For five days, it will be the meeting point for artists, collectors, art lovers and personalities from all over the world. CAN, Contemporary Art Now, is an initiative of Sergio Sancho, a cultural promoter who already surprised in 2017 with UVNT Art Fair (Urvanity), an unmissable event in Madrid’s art week.
As a novelty, abstraction will play a fundamental role in CAN2024. This is not the only decided commitment of this edition. True to its spirit, CAN2024 will continue to support Balearic art in its Official Programme and, especially, in the OFF Programme. The latter will be made up of different artists born in the Balearic Islands: “One of the pillars of CAN Art Fair has always been to encourage dialogue between the local and international art scenes. We want to give visibility to the art that is being produced on the islands and vindicate the fact that we also have top-level artists here”, says its director.
“CAN means ‘house of’ in Ibizan. We aspire to be hosts to the avant-garde of current creation. That’s why our surname, now,” explains Sancho. “The island is an inexhaustible source of inspiration in many artistic facets. Our idea is to mix culture, business and enjoyment,” he says. CAN emphasises the new languages that have emerged or are emerging and is also a space for the proposals of established artists who have stood out in recent decades. In parallel, it proposes unique experiences such as a complete programme for collectors, events or private visits to institutions and collections.
The CAN Contemporary Art Now 2024 galleries
Some of the galleries joining the fair’s official programme for the first time are AKIINOUE (Tokyo), Arusha Gallery (Edinburgh), Cassina Projects (Milan), Duran | Mashaal (Montreal), Enari Gallery (Amsterdam), Galeria Fermay (Palma de Mallorca), Galeria Fran Reus (Palma de Mallorca), Galeria Madragoa (Lisbon), Galería Moisés Pérez de Albéniz (Madrid), Galerie Lætitia Gorsy (Leipzig), Galleria Continua (San Gimignano/ Beijing/ Les Moulins/ Havana/ Rome/ São Paulo/ Paris/ Dubai), Gathering (London/Ibiza), HAGD Contemporary (Aalborg), Hollis Taggart (New York), Kers Gallery (Amsterdam), LAMB Gallery (London), Osnova (Moscow/ Valencia), ROSS-SUTTON Gallery (New York), Valerius Gallery (Luxembourg) and Xippas (Paris/Geneva/Punta del Este).
Among those who will repeat their participation from previous editions are 1969 Gallery (New York), Ballon Rouge (Brussels), Galerie Droste (Düsseldorf/Paris/Berlin), L21 (Mallorca/Barcelona), LA BIBI (Mallorca), LUNDGREN GALLERY (Mallorca), Marian Cramer Projects (Amsterdam), PIERMARQ* (Sydney), Plan X (Milan/Capri), PLUS-ONE Gallery (Antwerp), Ruttkowski; 68 (Cologne/Düsseldorf/Paris/New York), The Hole (New York) and VETA by Fer Francés (Madrid).
More than an official programme
The art doesn’t stop there. Ibiza has always been an island of artists, and CAN Art Fair is helping to revive that spirit. Since the fair was launched two years ago, other parallel activities have begun to emerge which, together with the support of the local administrations and the Ibizan cultural fabric that CAN Art Fair enjoys, are promoting the birth of an Art Week on the island.
A remarkable fact, bearing in mind that CAN Art Fair is not held in a location or on dates that are typical for the art market. In this third edition, CAN, Contemporary Art Now, is once again organising the OFF CAN 2024 Programme, which will help to highlight and promote Balearic art. Once again this year, the Faro de Ses Coves Blanques will feature the work of two Mallorcan artists: Alejandro Javayolas, from LA BIBI, and Bartomeu Sastre, from Galería Fran Reus.
The Refugio Antiaéreo in Santa Eulària des Riu joins this initiative as a new space, and will be programming an exhibition of textile art by the Mallorcan Jaume Roig. Ibizan artist Irene de Andrés will exhibit her works at Sa Punta des Molí in Sant Antoni de Portmany, while Mallorcan artist Guillermo Rubí will pay tribute to his musical references at Es Polvorí in Dalt Vila. Francesc Rosselló will be the only artist in the OFF Programme to exhibit in Formentera: at the Hotel Blanco, owned by Paya Hotels.
In parallel, a collectors’ programme will allow visitors to discover the local art and creative scene with activities as diverse as private visits to private collections, museums, institutions and artists’ studios; dinners, lunches, parties and even attendance at previews by invitation. As a novelty, this edition of CAN Art Fair will have a programme of Special Projects, which will have their own stands within the fair. Among them we find Galería Tambien, which will bring to the fair a selection of contemporary works and classic pieces of design; and the publishing house Idea together with the new space Agony & Ecstasy Ibiza, which will jointly present the third edition of the book “Oriol Maspons”, as well as a selection of images by this photographer.
Maison Soleille will dedicate its space to showing the designs of young artists, while the Postering Ibiza exhibition will take a look at the visual evolution of the island between 1980 and 2020 through the posters of its nightclubs. In addition, the CAN Local initiative will support other events that are held on the same dates as the fair and that help to glimpse the birth of an Art Week in Ibiza; for example, those organised by MACE, the Nave Salinas or Can Garita.
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