Swab Reading is a program that seeks to merge design and reading, art and publishing. This edition, Swab continues to create a space for publishing disciplines and invites two international projects to exhibit their books: Monorhetorik, the publishing house of Dutch visual artist Matt Plezier, and American artist Rafael Meléndez. Through their art on paper, Pleizer and Meléndez explore the different concepts of abstract forms in urban spaces, metaphors against the homogeneous, the uniform, and the polished.
“I am art. I am Barcelona. I am Swab” is a series of interviews with relevant people of the Barcelona creative environment, whose aim is to enhance the cultural network of the city.
Today we talk to Jordi Coll, an actor trained in theater and musical comedy.
I am Jordi Coll. I am art. I am Barcelona. I am Swab.
A word that describes Barcelona? Walk around
Is your place of creation, the studio, inspired by your city? Absolutely. During rehearsal periods, what I do most is walk around the city, stopping to read the text, memorize it…
If Barcelona was an art work, what would you name it? Step by step
A place in the city that connects you with art? The bar of Sala Beckett
A message to young creatives? Move as much as they can. Explore creative avenues or different scenic forms. Soak up what others don’t do. Music, painting, theater, … everything. We are in a very fucked up time. The best we can do is to tell it in every possible way and without fear.
S W A B W I T H U S . . .
Trained in theater and musical comedy, he debuted in 2007 in the musical FAMA. Later he participated in the productions of GREASE, HAIR, MOLT SOROLL PER NO RES, ELS JOCS FLORALS DE CANPROSA, EL PETIT PRÍNCEP and currently in the play SOPAR AMB BATALLA. In television he has participated in series such as MERLÍ. SAPERE AUDE, MADRES, EL INOCENTE, LA OTRA MIRADA, EL SECRETO DE PUENTE VIEJO, ACACIAS 38, EL INCIDENTE, INFIDELS and EL MINISTERIO DEL TIEMPO. He also participated in the seventh edition of the program TU CARA ME SUENA.
One more year Swab Barcelona presents the subsection of the General Program: Swab Emerging, exhibiting galleries with a trajectory of less than five years that already have a consolidated position in the international circuit.
Focus LATAM joins Swab as a curated section within the Emerging program curated by Santiago Gasquet, co-director of PIEDRAS (Buenos Aires), which will present the most emerging proposals of the Latin American contemporary art scene.
“I am art. I am Barcelona. I am Swab” is a series of interviews with relevant people of the Barcelona creative environment, whose aim is to enhance the cultural network of the city.
Today we talk to Ricardo Bofill, architect and postmodernist urban planner as well as founder of the Taller de Arquitectura created in 1963.
I am Ricardo Bofill. I am art. I am Barcelona. I am Swab.
A word that describes Barcelona? Individualism.
Is your place of creation, the studio, inspired by your city? I live and work in a cement factory that is part of Barcelona’s industrial heritage.
If Barcelona was an art work, what would you name it? The Eixample and Gaudí.
A place in the city that connects you with art? The church of Santa Maria del Mar.
A message to young creatives? Energy and discipline.
S W A B W I T H U S . . .
In 1963 Ricardo Bofill brought together a multidisciplinary team to tackle the complexity of architectural practice. Architects, engineers, urban planners, sociologists, writers, film directors and philosophers formed what is now known as the Taller d’Arquitectura. The evolution of the Taller d’Arquitectura, marked by the stimulus and vitalist vision of Ricardo Bofill, has gone through a series of practical and theoretical changes, partly related to the political and social transformations of recent years. The analysis of Bofill’s work as a whole reveals a high degree of coherence produced by a unique trajectory and language.
Once again this year, Swab Barcelona 2021 presents its youngest section, My First Art Fair, a program that grants the participation of four emerging galleries that, with less than two years of trajectory, have not yet participated in any international contemporary art fair.
Swab presents this initiative as a way to launch these projects in the international trade fair circuit and offer them a first experience in the sector.
SWAB BARCELONA RETURNS WITH AN ON-SITE EDITION THAT REVIVES COLOR AFTER THE PANDEMIC, WITH PAINTING AS THE PROTAGONIST.
After a global pandemic context, Barcelona’s contemporary art fair returns to its on-site format, taking painting and color as main characters.
ad / ad, Hannover. Swab Seed 2021. Hand to hand, Samuel Henne.
On October 7, Swab Barcelona will welcome 80 local and international galleries that will bring to the Italian Pavilion the newest trends in contemporary art. The selection of the participating galleries will be in charge of the members of the Selection Committee, this year integrated by curators Omar Lopez Chahoud, Jerome Pantalacci and Domenico de Chirico; and by collectors Giuseppe Casarotto, Marie Elena Angulo and Jose Luis Lorenzo.
Helena Vinent, La Escocesa, Barcelona. Swab Ephemeral 2021. La prótesi que dirigió al órgano contra sí mismo. Instalación en La Casa Encendida, Madrid, en el marco de la exposición Generaciones 2021.
In addition, highlighting its mission as a platform for new talents, the fair will once again present Swab Emerging, the subsection of the General Program dedicated to galleries less than five years old that are already showing promising signs in the international context, such as CAVE-AYUMIGALLERY, Dilalica, Selenas Mountain, BARK BERLIN GALLERY, Andrea Festa Fina Art and A.MORE Gallery.
This year, as a novelty, Swab Emerging introduces Focus LATAM, a section curated by Santiago Gasquet, co-director of PIEDRAS (Buenos Aires), which will present the most emerging proposals of the Latin American contemporary art scene:+ Arte Galería, Constitución, Margen, Moria Galería, Selvanegra Galería and Vigil Gonzales. Focus LATAM’s proposals explore social issues from the point of view of magic, surrealism and new realities.
Constitución, Buenos Aires. Emerging-Focus LATAM 2021. Llévame a conocer el oceano, Micaela Piñero 2019.
Following this line, the special program of this edition will focus on Eastern Europe, and will bring to Barcelona six emerging projects that explore the post-pandemic world from the vision of young artists. Among the participants of this Focus are Krupa Gallery, NoD, Ravnikar Galleryand Photoport.
Krupa Gallery, Breslavia. Focus East of Europe 2021 Covid-Playgrounds, Post Noviki 2020.
Another novelty this year is that Swab Performance, the fair’s performance program, is headed to the streets and will be carried out in the city’s exhibition spaces. The program will be curated by Gisela Chillida, who will select four performances to be presented in four Barcelona galleries during the two weeks prior to the fair. This change of format responds to the desire to generate a cultural circuit that runs through Barcelona and its most representative galleries. Chillida is committed to a curatorial line that (re)thinks the idea of presence, the occupation of a physical space in the now.
On the other hand, this years edition consolidates Swab Ephemeral, the installation section of the fair, presenting works by artists living in Barcelona’s creative factories. This year, the selection of curators Caterina Almirall and Margot Cuevas includes pieces by Joana Capella and Helena Vinent (La Escocesa), to kosie (Hangar) and Alexander Arilla (Fabra i Coats). This year’s artistic proposals have mostly a political, critical, social and feminist background, projects that will play with space and explore the interaction with the visitor.
Another of the fair’s ongoing curated programs is Swab on Paper, a section curated by Carolina Diez-Cascón that explores the possibilities of paper as a tool and as a technique. This year, Diez-Cascón explores a young society that oscillates between digital and analog, a reality that has surpassed the physical dimension, creating surreal panoramas through digital deformation or collage. Among the participants in this program are Transmitter and Montoro12.
Moria Galería, Buenos Aires. Emerging-Focus LATAM 2021. Una historia de la prestidigitacion, Laura Ojeda Bär 2020-2021.
Following the line of the usual programs, Swab continues to bet on its youngest proposals, Swab Seed and MYFAF. The former, the most experimental section of the fair, welcomes projects that escape the traditional gallery concept and work with alternative exhibition formats. Among the international participants are ad/ad, New Jörg and AA Collections, among others, and the local spaces joining this edition, sponsored once again by the Fundació Vila Casas, are Chiquita Room, Espai Colona, Fase, Tangent Projects and The Green Parrot.
MYFAF, on the other hand, is positioned as the program for galleries that have just started their journeys, as it grants the participation of four exhibition spaces that have not yet participated in an art fair. This year’s participants are Duplex, Kino Tonalá, ORR and Yudik One.
Finally, in its aim to explore new exhibition formats, Swab continues to make room for the publishing discipline with the Swab Reading program, a section that aims to give voice to projects halfway between publication and artistic object. This year’s participants are Monorhetorik and Rafael Melendez.
Selenas Mountain, Nueva York. Emerging 2021. Philosophical meditation, Larissa De Jesús Negrón, 2020.
Beyond its artistic program, Swab Barcelona maintains its satellite activities, such as Swab Thinks, a series of online talks and debates with curators and relevant professionals from the art world. On the other hand, Swab will maintain its space for children and families within the fair, Swab Kids, this year in collaboration with Plom Gallery and Grapat, which join forces to stimulate the creativity of the youngest art lovers and that will promote, in parallel, meetings between parents and mothers artists to have open conversations about family reconciliation with artistic practice.
Thus, Swab Barcelona is consolidated as a fair with a human dimension, which seeks to be a platform for the discovery of new voices of contemporary art from a sustainable cultural production and gender perspective. Finally, hand in hand with the digitalization platform ARTLAND, Swab maintains a virtualization of the fair parallel to the on-site event, giving everyone access to its proposals and favoring the international projection of its participants.
NoD, Praga. Focus East of Europe 2021. Deat Row, Julius Reichel 2018.
“I am art. I am Barcelona. I am Swab” is a series of interviews with relevant people of the Barcelona creative environment, whose aim is to enhance the cultural network of the city.
Today we talk to Roberta Bosco, journalist specialized in contemporary art and digital culture.
I am Roberta Bosco. I am art. I am Barcelona. I am Swab.
A word that describes Barcelona? I think Barcelona is a city full of possibilities, but lately it reminds me of a video game, every day a new level, a new difficulty.
Is your place of creation, the studio, inspired by your city? Yes, of course, but it doesn’t end with the suburbs. It extends like a chaotic world map that reflects all the places I have known and lived.
If Barcelona was an art work, what would you name it? If it were a work of art “Untitled”, if it were a novel “Desert of the Tartars” or “Trap 22” to emphasize its nature or virtue of being unresolved.
A place in the city that connects you with art? I believe that art resides in the eye. However, if I had to guide someone for the first time in Barcelona I think I would start with the Borne.
Swab Seed showcases ten independent and artist-run spaces that share experimentation as a common denominator. Swab Seed seeks to give visibility to new platforms and proposals that are shaking up the contemporary scene. For this edition, Swab Seed joins forces with Fundació Vila Casas, which sponsors the participation of four independent Catalan spaces.
“I am art. I am Barcelona. I am Swab ” is a series of interviews with relevant people of the Barcelona creative environment, whose aim is to enhance the cultural network of the city.
Today we speak with Barbara Aurell, the interior designer who decorates art with love.
I am Barbara Aurell. I am art. I am Barcelona. I am Swab.
A word that describes Barcelona? Home.
Is your place of creation, the studio, inspired by your city? Absolutely, for Barcelona and all the people who live there. When I’m in a creative process for a project I usually walk around the city to get inspired. I invite my clients to “stop” with me, observe their surroundings and tell me how they want to live.
If Barcelona was an art work, what would you name it? Blue
A place in the city that connects you with art? I like to sit in front of MACBA and watch in silence and see the skaters with the white backdrop of the building in the background.
A message to young creatives? Work hard, constantly and above all with passion. Travel and be inspired by everything around them. Be authentic and live intensely!
And how do you want to live?
S W A B W I T H U S . . .
Vocational interior designer and founder of Espacio Blanco Estudio, where she offers interior design services, architecture, creativity and markets her own furniture brand EEB.
“I am art. I am Barcelona. I am Swab” is a series of interviews with relevant people of the Barcelona creative environment, whose aim is to enhance the cultural network of the city.
Today we talk to Jordi Montaña, President of FAD and professor emeritus at ESADE.
I am Jordi Montaña. I am art. I am Barcelona. I am Swab.
A word that describes Barcelona? Open.
Is your place of creation, the studio, inspired by your city? Yes, certainly, very much.
If Barcelona was an art work, what would you name it? Spring dream.
A place in the city that connects you with art? L’Eixample.
A message to young creatives? Never stop working tirelessly.
S W A B W I T H U S . . .
Jordi Montaña is currently the president of FAD, Foment de les Arts i el Disseny; vice-president I of the Xarxa Vives de Universitats, XVU, and emeritus professor at ESADE, Universitat Ramon Llull. He has developed in parallel an academic career to become university rector along with a professional career with various management positions related to design, innovation and culture. He has numerous scientific and popular publications.
“I am art. I am Barcelona. I am Swab” is a series of interviews with relevant people of the Barcelona creative environment, whose aim is to enhance the cultural network of the city.
Today we talk to Joina Canyet, an artist hard to box in one music genre.
I am Joina Canyet. I am art. I am Barcelona. I am Swab.
A word that describes Barcelona? Modernity.
Is your place of creation, the studio, inspired by your city? Yes, Barcelona has inspired me a lot during the six years I’ve lived there. During the university stage, at Esmuc, I was able to be immersed in a lot of cultural activities, concerts, theater, cinema… new ways of seeing and approaching art and a lot of brilliant and inspiring people. Barcelona is a city full of culture and very very good musicians.
If Barcelona was an art work, what would you name it? Sweet introduction to chaos.
A place in the city that connects you with art? The Palau de la música.
A message to young creatives? Creativity is in us from the day we are born, it is essential and permanent and it is what makes us feel alive and unique. I would tell everyone in the world not to stop cultivating it because it is one of the most beautiful and revolutionary things that exist.
S W A B W I T H U S . . .
JOINA Canyet (Biure, 1996) is an artist hard to classify in a single music genre. She begins to enter the world of classical music with the piano as her main instrument and finishes her studies at the ESMUC in the specialty of classical piano performance. The summer of 2017, she stays in Paris where she gets to know more deeply the modern and urban musical world that is present in France. There, she finds an ideal space to write poetry in the form of rap. It is at that time that she starts to create the project “Companyes”. This first album is released in November 2018 and the tour ends in September 2020, receiving very good reviews from the press and programmers. After COMPANYES, an album of with a critical perspective, feminist and vindictive, the need arises to turn inward and she goes into the search for her “own refuge”. At this moment, the new album, ÓRBITA 9.18 was born and premiered in Barcelona on February 13, 2021.
