How many works signed by women hang today on the walls of museums and art galleries? And how many female painters, sculptors, or architects occupy a prominent place in the great anthologies of art history? For centuries, women have been part of that history, though often from a secondary position: transformed into muses, models, or faces immortalized on the canvases of others, while their own creations were relegated to oblivion. Only a few managed to break through and write their names in history books; many others, however, are still waiting for the recognition their works deserve.
In recent years, museums, institutions, and professionals in the sector have begun to reclaim the place of women in artistic creation. Even so, figures still show that the presence of women in the art world is far from equal. One only needs to look at the major contemporary art fairs today: at ARCOmadrid, the participation of women artists reached 40% in 2026, compared to 35.1% in the previous edition. These are some of the reflections and figures that have led By Invitation, the modern and contemporary art fair of the Círculo Ecuestre de Barcelona, to focus on these creators.
The art fair, which will celebrate its seventh edition from November 5 to 8, will bring together both historical artists whose work remained outside the official narrative and creators who are currently seeking to make their way in the contemporary scene. With this purpose, almost half of the participants in the 24 exhibition projects will be women. However, the vindication of these female voices will be only one of the threads weaving together this edition's proposal, which will also explore the possibilities of textile art and seeks to foster dialogues between different eras, generations, and artistic languages.
This will to build bridges is also reflected in the selection of the 24 exhibition projects, presented by local and international galleries from cities such as Milan, Naples, Porto, Dubai, and São Paulo. Along with contemporary proposals and unreleased works created for the fair, there will be pieces by renowned artists such as Joan Miró, Olga Sacharoff, Antoni Tàpies, and Óscar Domínguez, which the galleries offer in the secondary market, that is, works that return to the market after their first sale. The number of 24 projects is not casual: it responds to the capacity of the Círculo Ecuestre palace, but also defines the character of By Invitation: a reduced format that favors dialogue between the works and allows them to be discovered away from the crowded pace of large fairs
“By Invitation is, above all, a modern and contemporary art fair that does not seek to reproduce the model of the major events in the sector. Its uniqueness lies precisely in its contained scale, marked by the very architecture of the space that hosts it,” explained Mariella Franzoni, PhD in Humanities, cultural manager, and artistic director of the fair, during the presentation of its seventh edition. This more intimate dimension allows, according to Franzoni, to take care of the curatorial work of each exhibition and to work hand in hand with artists and gallery owners.
But the uniqueness of By Invitation does not reside solely in its format. At the fair, the space that hosts the works is also part of the artistic experience. The four floors of Casa Pérez Samanillo, the modernist palace that houses the Círculo Ecuestre, turn the visit into a journey through a building that has as much to tell as the pieces it exhibits. Its monumental staircase, the ceiling frescoes, or the ornate rooms are not a mere backdrop, but part of the identity of a fair that champions art in all its forms. Thus, in addition to discovering the works of the artists selected to be part of this seventh edition, the public will also have the unique opportunity to tour rooms usually reserved for members of the private club, which will open its doors for the occasion through invitations provided by the organization, the galleries, and the artists themselves.
Opening these spaces to the general public is part of a broader desire: “to bring artistic creation closer to new audiences and awaken a love and passion for art.” It is, after all, the purpose with which Enrique Lacalle, president of the Círculo Ecuestre, promoted the fair in 2020 and which continues to guide its trajectory. In its seventh edition, this will translates into a proposal that, under the theme Open Weaves, places textile art at the center and weaves dialogues between different materials and generations.
Textile art and the new threads of By Invitation
This idea of intertwining languages and generations finds one of its main expressions in textile art. The fair brings together works by historical figures such as Aurèlia Muñoz and Magda Bolumar, references in the renewal of textile language, alongside contemporary artists such as Sandra Monterroso, Agnès Essonti, Guadalupe Salgado, Lizette Nin, Laura Segura and Hiva Alizadeh. Through their proposals, By Invitation vindicates a discipline that for a long time has occupied a secondary place in art history narratives, despite its ability to explore matter, identity and memory.
“At a time when we are saturated with images and artificial intelligence, I perceive a tendency to recover craftsmanship, to return to the old and to value work done with the hands,” defended Carlos Durán, gallerist and head of SENDA and Lab36.
One of the central projects of the textile exhibition will be the intervention of Agnès Essonti, represented by Bombon Projects, on the main staircase of the mansion. Under the title Taym we taym bi bin taym (The time when time was time), she will present three pieces from her series Banderas. Made with fragments of wax fabrics stamped with figurative motifs, such as hobby horses and fans, the works incorporate proverbs and expressions in Cameroonian Pidgin silkscreened in collaboration with the Top Manta collective. Through these fabrics, the artist evokes the cultural exchanges between Africa and Europe and the colonial history that runs through them. Not too far from this project by the contemporary artist, will be the work of one of the references of textile art: Aurèlia Muñoz (1926-2011), a pioneer in the renewal of textile language.
The dialogue between both artists, belonging to different generations, embodies one of the central ideas of By Invitation from the beginning: to foster dialogue between modern and contemporary art. “We are not afraid to promote great and unexpected dialogues, between artists of different generations, even between those who had never met before,” Franzoni pointed out.
Both Muñoz's and Essonti's works are part of an edition that will be divided into three sections: Palacete, Vértigo and Espuela. The first of these, Palacete, which will be installed on the two most emblematic floors of the building, will be responsible for fostering encounters between artists of different generations. It will bring together works by Joan Miró, Antoni Tàpies, Óscar Domínguez and Joaquín Torres-García, among others, along with contemporary proposals by Sergio Prego, Elena Garrigola, Jan Vallverdú, Idoia Leache and Valentina Alvarado Matos, represented by galleries such as ADN Galeria, BETA Contemporary, Guillermo de Osma, Marc Domènech and Senda. Among the featured projects in this section are new works by Ignasi Aballí and a work created specifically for the palace library by Italian artist Andrea Mastrovito, which will explore the dialogue between art and architecture.
The Vértigo section, for its part, will bring together six projects by emerging artists, with works by Wycliffe Mundopa, Slim Safont, Francesc Ruiz Abad, Guadalupe Salgado, Chavis Mármol, Hiva Alizadeh and Inma Femenía, with proposals such as the new sculptures by Mexican artist Chavis Mármol, the compositions with synthetic hair by Hiva Alizadeh or the work by Inma Femenía, created from industrial materials. Finally, Espuela will be dedicated to modern and post-war art from the secondary market, with works by Manolo Valdés, Antoni Clavé, Equipo Crónica or Joan Miró.