Swab Barcelona talks to the members of the 2021 selection committee.
Today we speak with… Omar Lopez-Chahoud
Swab Barcelona is proud to present its selection committee, which will be in charge of casting the international and national galleries that will be part of the program of its 14th edition.
Omar López-Chahoud is the Artistic Director and Curator of UNTITLED, and as an independent curator he has curated and co-curated numerous exhibitions in the United States and internationally. Most recently, he curated the Nicaraguan Biennial in March 2014. López-Chahoud has participated in curatorial panel discussions at Artists’ Space, Art in General, MoMA PS1, and the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City. López-Chahoud earned MFAs from Yale University School of Art, and the Royal Academy of Art in London.
What are you busy working with at the moment?
I just became the international director of YES Contemporary, an organization that supports Salvadorian artists. I’m currently programming for SINDENOMINACION, a project that I founded three years ago in Guadalajara, Mexico. I’m working on various exhibitions that I will be curating in NY, Brussels, and Mexico. I just started to work on the 10th anniversary edition of UNTITLED Art this upcoming December in Miami Beach.
What would you say are the common patterns that define your curatorial work?
Connecting emerging artists to historical work and presenting them side by side with stablished artists.
What are three traits you look for in an emerging artist?
I look for originality, research intensive practice, and risk taking.
Tell us something from the art world you’d like to see more of and something you’d like to see less of in 2021?
I will like to see more initiatives coming from the artists themselves.
I will like to see less inflated prices on works by emerging artists.
If you could give a piece of advice for emerging galleries that are starting off in 2021, what would it be?
Be open to question the old models associated with commercial galleries and be willing to do pop ups and collaborations with other more experimental spaces that include non profits and artist run spaces.
What’s the most valuable lesson you’ve learned while selecting galleries for Swab?
That we should look at other regions like Eastern Europe and Latin America in search for artists that are relevant to the current international dialogue.
Tell us something a fair must and something a fair must-not for you to find it interesting?
To work on a strong selection of galleries and artists and not to do favoritism.
What are you looking forward to seeing in Swab 2021?
Young galleries and emerging artists that I’m not familiar with. A sense of discovery!
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Swab 2021 Selection Committee
COMMISSIONERS
Jérôme Pantalacci
Domenico de Chirico
Omar Lopez-Chahoud
COLLECTORS
Giuseppe Casarotto
Jose Luis Lorenzo
Marie Elena Ángulo
APPLICATIONS OPEN
SWAB 2021 exhibitors submissions are now open.
WITH THE SUPPORT OF
