July 30–August 3, 2015
Application deadline: March 30, 2015
Palacio de Ferias, Congresos y Exposiciones de Marbella
Avda. José Meliá, 2
Marbella
Spain
info [at] marbellafair.com
www.marbellafair.com
The most important event of contemporary art in South Europe will turn Marbella into the new indispensable date within the international calendar. Art Marbella is born, a fair and meeting point for Mediterranean creators and collectors.
During five days, from July 30 to August 3, 2015, Marbella will become the new worldwide capital of art. Art Marbella, the first great fair of Mediterranean art, will gather near 50 prestigious international galleries. It will also feature specific sections, developed by independent curators, presented as research and deepening spaces on the work of selected artists, and with specific projects carried out by invited artists.
In cooperation with the Centre of Contemporary Art CAC of the neighbouring Malaga, and other museums and art centres from the region, Art Marbella will also develop a full programme of parallel activities for national and international collectors.
While, traditionally, the “Mare Nostrum” has been a meeting point between the Middle East and the West, Art Marbella will serve as its most topical creation. The purpose is to pass on to the large public an exceptional offer of art, where the most emergent proposals coexist with great pieces from the 20th century. The timing—summer—is when the city becomes a destination for visitors from all over the world with a high purchase power. Considered as the capital of Costa del Sol, Marbella is an essential destination on the Mediterranean Sea for the style, design and art lovers.
In the words of its promoter, Alejandro Zaia, “Marbella is one of the most relevant places of European summer. It gathers a large number of European visitors, but also from places such as Russia and the Middle East, and represents a unique opportunity to establish an international art fair with the excellence and quality deserved both by the city and its visitors.” Additionally, Zaia continues, “it is a very good occasion to expand the collecting activity’s frontiers by incorporating new players within the system, teaching, explaining and showing to them the best existing art in the world.”
The fair Art Marbella will be developed in the Palacio de Ferias, Congresos y Exposiciones of Marbella, a modern building located near the historic city centre, next to the beach and the seaside promenade.
This initiative counts with the support and collaboration of the Town Council of Marbella.
Behind Art Marbella
Art Marbella is promoted by the businessman Alejandro Zaia (b. 1961, Buenos Aires), co-founder of fairs PINTA New York (2007) and PINTA London (2010), specialized in art from Latin America, Spain and Portugal. Zaia is a communication and marketing expert and has founded and developed communication companies in Argentina, Chile, Mexico and the United States. In addition, he is the director of the MUNDUS NOVUS Collection (dedicated to contemporary Latin American art), and has been part of the board of international consultants on the MOLAA, Museum of Latin American Art of Los Angeles and of the ART Museum for Private Collectors.
A fair’s success depends on a careful selection of its participants. For such purpose, Art Marbella has the privilege to count with some of the most outstanding figures of the international artistic scene. In this first edition, the curatorial committee consists of Omar López-Chahoud, independent curator based in New York, and founder and director of the fair UNTITLED of Miami; Neri Torcello, Italian resident in London, who will be in charge of selecting Master artists; and María Chiara Valacchi,curator and director of the Spazio Cabinet Foundation in Milan, who will be responsible for special projects. The criterion agreed by all these curators is to hold a contemporary fair, with certain references and bonds with more-known and well-established artists, so as to give a meaning and provide a context to the youngest artists. Thus, Art Marbella will count with a section of Master artists, where visitors and collectors will find important and relevant works from the international market.
The fair’s design and decoration will be entrusted to the Mexican architect Othon Castañeda, also artist and curator—Director of the Biennial of the Frontiers—who will organize and produce an original tour, with wide exhibition spaces and resting and comfort areas for visitors. Art and architecture melt to make of Art Marbella a unique experience.
With an aim to warmly welcome visitors and participating galleries, a committee has been created with prominent people from the world of culture, politics and business. Among others, the Mayor of Marbella, Ms. Ángeles Muñoz; and personalities from the world of culture, collecting and European social life, such as Anibal and Marlise Jozami, Catherine Petitgas, Francis Verstraeten, Pablo de Hohenlohe, Sebastián Valdez, Eduardo Diez Hochleinder, Fernando Francés, Flavia de Hohenlohe, Konstantine von Knieriem and Virginia Harley Sartorius, Salvador and Elena Garriga, Luis and Yolanda Caballero, Irina Grafin zu Stolberg-Stolberg, and Princess Lulu Al-Sabah.
Art Marbella is also please to announce that applications for its first edition are now open.
Application deadline is March 30, 2015.
For further information please contact info [at] marbellafair.com.
