"Swab is a boutique format fair where quality prevails over quantity and is a reflection of what is happening in the international art sector," said the director and founder of the event Joaquín Diez-Cascón.
With this phrase, Swab convened, from September 27 to 30 in the Italian Pavilion in Barcelona, nearly 300 established and emerging artists from more than 60 galleries across five continents. Developed from different programs, the fair consolidates itself as a reference for understanding the current avant-garde of independent art, its link with the city, and its relationship with the world.
The General program, the most important and mature of the fair, this year included proposals from 32 galleries, among which were the most representative of Barcelona, Madrid, Seville, Valencia, and Palma de Mallorca. Alongside them, the international perspective offered by galleries from countries such as Russia, Germany, Peru, Argentina, Mexico, and the Philippines. "These were daring and incredible proposals that enhance international art," said Carolina Diez-Cascón, project director of Swab.
As part of its premieres, this year the fair presented the program The Cactus and The Desert, curated by the renowned independent Cuban curator Omar López-Chahoud. In this instance, six invited galleries from New York presented their proposals under a common denominator: how the cactus – a metaphor for man – can live in extreme conditions and how it adapts to them. The artists, all born between 1985 and 1995, exhibited their own approach to this theme through pictorial works that alluded to magic, the tribal, contact with the earth, or a return to origins.
"We are looking for a medium-sized fair format, as happens in other fairs held in San Francisco, London, Paris, Mexico, Copenhagen, or Puerto Rico, and in which between 20 and 80 galleries participate and young artists want to be there." (Joaquín Diez-Cascón, director and founder of Swab)For its part, the program On Paper has left no one indifferent with its clear focus on paper as a narrative and, also, as a reflection of a new era. "We thought we were in a totally digital era but paper is the most traditional technique, it speaks and has prominence," said Carolina Diez-Cascón.
The program has brought together a total of seven projects in which artists have carried out their own analysis of the digital from paper. The proposals included such interesting perspectives as the use of meteorological applications expressed through the transformation that paper undergoes when left outdoors. The climatic effect interferes with the appearance it takes on and is subsequently materialized in an artistic work of great transcendence.
Swab Seed, in its fourth edition, has offered a place to showcase the work of independent artistic platforms that are modifying the contemporary art scene and that differ from the traditional gallery model. Artist collectives, pop-ups, itinerant galleries, and even online galleries from New York, Querétaro City, London, Bogotá, Lisbon, Okinawa, Bali, or Barcelona have been protagonists in this scenario.
For this edition, My First Art Fair has allowed sponsoring and bringing to the city the proposals of three galleries: Las Palmas (Lisbon), Storage Capacité (Germany), and High Gallery (Poland). All of them were inaugurating their participation in an international fair.
The Performance program, which advocates for the support of performative artistic practices, has joined forces for the first time in its fourth edition with the Diputación de Barcelona. A jury formed by Alexandra Laudo, Joan Morey, and Imma Prieto has selected six artists whose performances will later tour other spaces in Catalonia.
The second edition of the Ephemeral program has been curated by Caterina Almirall in collaboration with the Barcelona Creation Factories: Hangar, La Escocesa, and Fabra i Coats. Under the title Softbodies, not ahead but inside, the installations presented by six artists have advocated for the exploration of the world, the relationship with the piece, identity, anonymity, or ecology. A unique experience for visitors who were invited to explore, participate, and be part of them.
"Swab is a fair that transmits current trends. The return to nature, to painting, engraving, ceramics, or tapestry." (Joaquín Diez-Cascón, director and founder of Swab)The first-time inclusion of the program Reading has been another of the novelties with which the event has closed. This space pop-up within the Italian Pavilion has been conceived as a point to accommodate a fruitful selection of editorial material produced by self-managed artists from Sweden or Estonia. A space to respond to the increasing relevance that books and magazines acquire, understood as works of art and pieces of great artistic value.
The days also featured the presentation of outstanding awards and a unique alliance with el Bulli Foundation in the gastronomic space of the fair. For children, the proposal was granted by Plom Gallery Barcelona, and an agenda of events outside the fair was part of this edition.
With pieces ranging from a few euros to the most expensive, which amounted to 23,000 euros, nearly 75% of the galleries have sold part of their works. In this context, in addition to the role of the traditional collector, the new young collector stands out. People between 30 and 40 years old who wish to acquire a piece of contemporary art. For all of them, there have been avant-garde proposals at Swab.
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