Drawing Room Lisboa 2023

The Institute of Balearic Studies (IEB) participates with a focus on the Balearic Islands in the Drawing Room Lisboa art fair, in which the artists Catalina Julve, Andreu Maimó, Cristóbal Pons and Isabel Servera participate.

Drawing Room Lisbon is one of the most important fairs dedicated to international contemporary drawing in Europe. From October 25 to 29, 2023, it celebrates its sixth edition in the historic space of the Sociedade Nacional de Belas Artes in Lisbon. Located next to Liberdade Avenue, this Lisbon institution is a privileged headquarters of artistic activity in Portugal since the beginning of the 20th century.

The fair has managed to become a fundamental event in the Portuguese artistic calendar, thanks to the presence of highly prestigious local galleries, such as Pedro Cera, Filomena Soares, Vera Cortés, Bruno Murias or Miguel Nabinho, along with other European and Ibero-American galleries.

The exhibition of Balearic artists takes place in the space of the Galería Moderna, within the focus section, a special section with which the fair highlights the work of creators who stand out for their contribution to contemporary drawing in a particular artistic scene. Under the expert selection of independent curators, in previous editions the cities of Berlin have participated, together with the curatorship of Jan-Phillip Fruehsorge; Buenos Aires, curated by Deborah Reda, and Santiago de Compostela, curated by Asunta Rodríguez. The curator of the Balearic Islands focus corresponds to João Silvério.

Organized by the Institute of Balearic Studies, a cultural institution that belongs to the Department of Tourism, Culture and Sports of the Government of the Balearic Islands, the Focus of the Balearic Islands has the objective of contributing to the visibility and internationalization of Balearic artists in a strategic event for external projection.

The selection of the artists has been made through an open call launched by the IEB, with a jury made up of Mónica Álvarez Careaga, director of Drawing Room Lisboa; João Silvério, curator of the Focus of the Balearic Islands, and Karen Andrea Müller, head of the visual arts area of the IEB.

The presence of the Balearic Islands in the Drawing Room Lisboa 2023 edition is also reinforced with the choice by the fair organization of a drawing by Albert Pinya as the official poster.

Catalina Julve participates in the Focus with a site-specific installation, inspired by iconic photographs of the Second World War, entitled "The song of the cicadas." Andreu Maimó presents a selection of forty drawings that recreate the annual evolutionary process of his Can Vent garden. The “Brecha” project, by Cristóbal Pons, with work on mixed media paper, raises a critical reflection on the macrostructures of power. "Work Calendar", by Isabel Servera, compiles seventy drawings made with a multicolored pen in the form of a mural, which show a work calendar scheduled for one year.

During the fair, the artist Catalina Julve was awarded the Drawing Room & Viarco prize for new drawing talent.