Exhibition Review: BARCELONA CONTEMPORARY ART FAIR 2021
3rd EDITION
Barcelona, Spain | September 03 – 23, 2021

ITSLIQUID Group is proud to announce the great success of the third edition of BARCELONA CONTEMPORARY ART FAIR 2021, held in Barcelona, at Valid World Hall Gallery from September 03 to September 23, 2021, with the extraordinary participation of more than 50 artists coming from all over the world.

Click here to see the photo full reportage

BARCELONA CONTEMPORARY is a contemporary art fair that presents collective and solo projects by leading and emerging international artists. The third edition represents a forum for direct exchange of ideas and contacts between collectors, artists, photographers, designers and art professionals. The art fair features paintings, sculptures, photography art, installations, video art and live performance.

BARCELONA CONTEMPORARY 2021 analyzes the relationship between body and space, and the hybridization between identities and cultural/physical/social/urban settings in contemporary time, through two main sections: MIXING IDENTITIES and FUTURE LANDSCAPES.

MIXING IDENTITIES analyzes the hidden parts of our identities, through an immersive experience inside the fascinating universe of the complex labyrinths of our consciousness. The human body is a changing system that connects us with other bodies and spaces to perceive the surrounding reality; a strong communication system with its own language and infinite ways of expression.

FUTURE LANDSCAPES are abstract, infinite and conceptual, associated with a sense of freedom and infinite extension. Primarily experienced with the mind, spaces redefining their limits and borders, transforming surfaces in open flow of pure ideas. This section focuses on the concept of the borders and the structures between body, mind and soul, the human identity and the city, the space and the ground.

The third edition of BARCELONA CONTEMPORARY was inaugurated on September 04, 2021 and once again we have witnessed a fascinating journey through the different interpretations of the same concept. Natalia Zvonkova, for example, represents a situation of irrepressible desire “to return to normal” whit her decisive stroke: she started this piece over the 2020 quarantine, and she believes it reflects her necessity for human company, friendly gatherings, noisy parties, and just people on the streets. Ruth Arbiser, an Argentinian artist who lives in the heart of France, brings to canvas all the expressiveness of the color of light and shapes, accompanying us on a dream journey in which we find the perfect balance of broken lines and curves, of sweetness and strength.

Heidi Kaas, a Danish artist who shuttles between France and Denmark, cathartically pours all the frenzy of this world onto canvas, using the brushstroke as a meditative tool from which we can perceive all the peace and tranquility of the scenes in a play of lights, colors and shadows that envelop the viewer in a limbo of serenity. On the other hand, the Turkish painter Bülent Yildirim expresses himself with a political slant: he uses the canvas as an expression of an equality and respect to which humanity can not only aspire but also make its own.

Definitely more graphic are the illustrations by Oriol Vaz: a journey into fairy tales that pushes that healthy imagination that can be found in games and in childhood, as if to rediscover through its colors and its traits the most innocent part that characterizes the mankind. In a similar way, Olly Marchenko through an intertwining of plastic, paper, alcohol and ink, expresses the harmony of intangible forms with contrasts of lights and colors that are sometimes fluorescent. We can find the same spirit of freedom in the abstract canvases of Ana Maksimova: through different techniques she manages to express all her creativity with color combinations that make the works fluid and balanced.

The event also included a selection of video artists, including the one of Alexandru Buescu‘s performance which aims to create stimulating and provocative experiences for the public, where the vitality of the human body compared to rigid figures is shown as a declaration of freedom towards denigrating treatments, and the one of Katarzhina Zakharova who, through her performance of which she is the direct executor, manages to capture and focus the attention of the public.

This is how the third edition of BARCELONA CONTEMPORARY ART FAIR 2021 represented the perfect idea of ​​combining different but common styles in contemporary art, embracing different countries, thoughts and visions, creating a unique and suggestive atmosphere.

organized by ITSLIQUID Group
curator Luca Curci
in collaboration with Valid World Hall Gallery
project manager Giulia Tassi
project coordinators Veronica Piras, Giulia Spagnuolo
collaborator Camilla Morandin, Ilde Strobbe
graphic designer Marina Caracciolo
supported by Comune di Gallipoli | Emys | Hub Design | The Climate Route

VENUE
Valid World Hall Gallery
c/ Buenaventura Muñoz 6, 08018 Barcelona, Spain
September 04 – 23, 2021
Tuesday – Friday | 10:00 AM – 02:00 PM and 05:00 PM – 08:00 PM
Saturday | 11:00 AM – 02:00 PM

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COVID-19 Protection Concept – ITSLIQUID Group

The health and safety of our staff and visitors are of predominant importance to ITSLIQUID Group. This Protection Concept governs how we intend to operate after the lockdown has ended, the rules that will be applied inside the exhibition spaces and how these will be implemented in practice. Read more.

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ABOUT US

ITSLIQUID is a web based information platform, founded in 2001 by Luca Curci, dedicated to world wide distribution of information about calls for entries, exhibitions and events at some of the world’s leading art galleries, museums and foundations selected. ITSLIQUID has already built a readership of more than 250.000 qualified subscribers. Among them architects, designers, artists, collectors, art critics, curators, dealers, and other personalities of the International art, architecture and design world. It provides advertising services, press office services for events and projects, articles and specials published on the website, media partnerships services.

During the last 20 years, ITSLIQUID Group has became a cultural hub between creatives, exhibition spaces and art lovers. Among our international partners, Art Now Fair, Art Vancouver, Design Tokyo, INDEX Qatar, INDEX Saudi, The Big 5 Construct Dubai, The Big 5 Construct Qatar, Photo LA Los Angeles and international magazines like Art Style. ITSLIQUID Group supports some of the most important no-profit organizations, like UNFCCC – United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, SSCS – Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, One Tree Planted, The Ocean CleanUp and Plastic Oceans, with the goal to increase public awareness about environmental issues. Click here to find out more.

ITSLIQUID GROUP includes a section dedicated to the organization of international art events, managing exhibitions of painting, photography, video art, installation and performance; it organizes solo and collective shows, art residencies and international contests. Its object is to use new technologies to globalize the language of art, to connect artists working in every part of the world.

ITSLIQUID Group manages a variety of art spaces all over the world; among them THE ROOM Contemporary Art Space in the heart of San Marco Square in Venice and different historical buildings, THE LINE Contemporary Art Space in the London city center and other different partners worldwide. Since its beginning, the group has organized more than 250 events all around the world, involving more than 5.000 artists, in more than 60 international venues in Italy, USA, Canada, UK, Spain, France, etc. Most of the last events have been realized in museums (CCCB – Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona in Spain, NCCA – National Center for Contemporary Arts in Moscow, etc.), galleries and private foundations.

ITSLIQUID is based on fluidity, motion, connection and accessibility. Making things easy to do. Welcome.

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OUR LOCATION

Valid World Hall

An international meeting point for those interested in culture and all forms of artistic expression. A place where we strive to find a new form of cooperation in the human universe, a place that acts as a catalyst for creative initiatives and expressions in the search of innovation and excellence. A place where everything is possible.

With more than 250 m2 space, our aim is to create an innovative platform supporting all sorts of cultural initiatives in the city.

Valid World Hall Gallery is located in the heart of Barcelona, 5 minutes’ walk from the Arc de Triomf, less than 1 km far from the Sagrada Familia and Casa Milà. Playa De la Barceloneta and the Porto Olimpic can also be reached in less than 10 minutes by walk. Arc de Triomf metro station is 2 minutes walking distance.