CIRCA Puerto Rico gives new visibility to Caribbean art world
CIRCA Puerto Rico ’08
The First International Art Fair in the Caribbean
San Juan, Puerto Rico
April 11-April 14, 2008
www.circapr.com
info@circapr.com
targetyourart@yahoo.es
CIRCA Puerto Rico 07, the first international art fair in the Caribbean and Central America, held its second edition from March 30 April 2, 2007 at the new Puerto Rico Convention Center in San Juan featuring 35 commercial galleries from Puerto Rico, Latin America, the United States, and Europe.
New visibility to the Caribbean art world
In just two years, CIRCA PR has shown its potential to give new visibility to the Caribbean art world where an exciting mix of regional artists, gallerists, institutions, and collectors, together with a selection of young international galleries, offered a very personal and dynamic art fair. (click www.circapr.com to see our photogallery)
CIRCA PR 07 doubled it sales achieving $4 million and received 12.000 visitors (8.000 in 2006). It showed to a local and international audience the diversity of subjects, concepts, styles and techniques explored by the most recent contemporary Caribbean and international art.
We are going in the right direction and we are convinced that an art fair can be small, intimate, and intellectually challenging, especially in this hyper-competitive art fair age says Roberto José Nieves CIRCAs president and director. CIRCA he insists- will continue with its humane scale offering sophisticated curatorial projects in a friendly and sunny setting.
A successful concept: In the Spot
Two curated exhibitions in the section In the Spot were among the highlights of the fair: Re-imagining Identity and Conjugaciones. For artistic directors Celina Nogueras and Paco Barragán It was clear that CIRCA needed a truly curatorial component, and In the Spot offers a curator the possibility of setting up a concept based exhibition from works exhibited at the fair and engage in a critical dialogue with the audience. Curated by Amanda Coulson, Re-imagining Identity included among others work by Filippo Tirado, Favián Vergara, Josué Pellot, and Rafael Tufiño and reflected on Caribbean identity; Conjugaciones was on its turn conceived by Silvia Karman Cubiñá and showcased works by Antuan, Nikki Lee, and Aaron Salabarría, dealing with aspects like transformation, flux or simulation. Its a challenge says Barragán- for a curator to work only with works exhibited at the fair and come up instantly with a concept, but for the audience its like looking into the curators kitchen. (click www.circapr.com to see the curators videos)
Besides turning CIRCA PR into a practical curatorial platform, the panel organized by the Escuela de Artes Plásticas The dark side of the force: The role of the curator at an art fair, chaired by art critic Haydée Venegas, with the participation of curator Amanda Coulson, artist César Martínez, president of AICA Henry Meyric Hughes, and curator Paco Barragán, offered the possibility to reflect on the contradictions of curators getting involved more and more with art fairs.
Chambres des Collecteurs
In the past few years, in response to the bourgeoning and dynamic artistic community, an important group of private collectors has emerged in Puerto Rico mirroring both local and international trends, among which are: Diana and Moisés Berezdivin, María and Alberto de la Cruz, César Reyes, Margarita Serapión and John Belk, Pedro and Cheti Muñoz Marín, Rosalía and Humberto Ugobono, Mara and Javier Méndez, Dinorah and Horacio Campolietto, Millie and Luis Gutiérrez, María Olga and Ramón Luis Lugo, or Milly and Chilo Andreu.
In cooperation with these collectors and in hommage to Jan Hoets Chambres dAmis (1986), the section Chambres des Collecteurs offers during CIRCA a unique possibility of visiting private collections. Some of the private houses visited this year included the María Olga y Ramón Luis Lugo Collection with works by Immendorf, Beuys, Neo Rauch, and Damian Hirst; the María and Alberto de la Cruz Collection with works by Jonathan Meese, Polke, Oehlen, and Murakami; the Cheti and Pedro Muñoz Marín Collection with works a.o. by Matthias Koster and Arnaldo Roche; and finally, the Millie and Chilo Andreu Collection with works by Puertorican established and emerging artists like Pepón Osorio, Charles Júhasz-Alvarado, Dzine, Allora & Calzadilla, and Melvin Martínez.
These visits were further complemented with two exciting exhibitions that interpret and celebrate the passion for contemporary art collecting in Puerto Rico: In Focus: Collecting Contemporary Art in Puerto Rico, Part 1 (Appropriation, Copyright and Authenticity: Wade Guyton, Seth Price, Josh Smith, Kelley Walker, and Aaron Young) at the Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, curated by Silvia Karman Cubiñá, a new and yearly initiative that the MAPR will develop parallel to CIRCA with works from private Puertorican collections; and Globalization: Indications/Secondary effects/Warnings, curated by Julieta González at Espacio 1414, the exhibition space of private collectors Diana and Moisés Berezdivin with works a.o. by Nicola López, Antoni Muntadas, Hélio Oiticica, Martha Rosler, Cao Fei or Dan Graham.
Come for the art, stay for the rum
Central to the success of the fair was the sponsorship of Rones de Puerto Rico who boosted the fair with the slogan Come for the art, stay for the rum. Rones de Puerto Rico was delighted to have sponsored this important art event said Jorge Mas, Undersecretary of Economic Development.
CIRCA PR also wants to thank Caribbean Merchandiser Services, MCS, Primera Hora, Lexus, SunCom Wireless, Artnexus, El Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, Museo de Arte de Ponce, Escuela de Artes Plásticas, Caguas Municipality, and Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña for their commitment and support.
And last but not least, CIRCA PR wishes to thank all the artists, gallerists, art professionals and collectors that have contributed to make CIRCA 07 such an exciting art fair.
About Circa Puerto Rico 08
For more information on our new edition, to be held from April 11 April 14, 2008 or for an application, please visit www.circapr.com or call (787) 279-7675.
Fair Contact: info@circapr.com Media Contact: Global Target email: targetyourart@yahoo.es
