CIRCA Puerto Rico ’08, the first international art fair in the Caribbean and Central America, will be held from April 11 – April 14, 2008 at the new Puerto Rico Convention Center in San Juan, and will feature over 40 commercial galleries from Puerto Rico, Latin America, the United States, Europe, Canada, and Australia.
CIRCA PR ’08 will once again bring the best of Contemporary art to a local and international audience of collectors. It is the only art fair of its kind in the Caribbean and Central America, where an important group of collectors has emerged in the past few years. In just three years, CIRCA PR has shown its potential to give new visibility to the Caribbean art world where an exciting mix of regional artists, galleries, institutions, and collectors, together with a selection of international galleries, offered a very personal and dynamic art fair.
SIZE DOES MATTER
Far from the madding crowds and the gigantism of most of the art fairs,
at CIRCA PR we are convinced that an art fair should be small,
intimate, and intellectually challenging. CIRCA continues with its
humane scale in a friendly and sunny setting allowing gallerists,
collectors and other art professionals to interact on a more personal
one-to-one basis. Respected economist E.F.Schumacher once said “Small
is beautiful”, hinting clearly to the most appropriate scale for an
activity. And for us, size does
really matter.
WHAT THE PRESS SAID ABOUT CIRCA ‘07:
• “the fair featured a great mix of dealers and independent thinkers
that aren’t found at other art fairs” (Walter Robinson, artnet)
• “Puerto Rico has something unique to offer to the world, which is
increasingly about money and seeing the same thing everywhere you go” (
Joel Weinstein, Flash Art)
• “CIRCA is shaping up to be an exciting initiative” (Amanda Coulson Tema Celeste)
• “Puerto Rico possesses one of the highest densities of collectors that I know of in the art world” (Fernando Galán Art.es)
PARTICIPATING GALLERIES
356 (San Juan), Air de Paris (Paris), Altamira (Gijon), Artspace
Witzenhausen (Amsterdam), Blow de la Barra (London), Botello (San
Juan), Breenspace (Sydney), brot.undspiele (Berlin), Spencer Brownstone
(New York), Adora Calvo (Salamanca), Casas Riegner (Bogota), Marta
Cervera (Madrid), Contemporary Fine Arts (Berlin), Carmen Correa
Contemporaneo (San Juan), CR3MA (San Juan), Dean Projects (New York),
Espacio Liquido (Gijon), Henrique Faria Fine Art (New York), Gavlak
(West Palm Beach), Alfredo Ginocchio Arte Internacional (Mexico DF),
Moti Hasson (New York), Hardcore Art Contemporany Space (Miami),
Caprice Horn (Berlin), Jacob Karpio (San Jose, CR), Diana Lowenstein
Fine Arts (Miami), Federico Luger (Milan), Katharine Mulherin
Contemporary Art (Toronto), Museum 52 (London), Pan American Art
Projects (Miami), Raquel Ponce (Madrid), Walter Otero (San Juan), Point
of View (New York), PM Gallery (Toronto), El Museo/Fernando Pradilla
(Bogota), Primer Piso (San Juan), Lyle O. Reitzel (Santo Domingo), Samson Projects (Boston), Schuebbe Project
(Duesseldorf), Space Other (Boston), Spielhaus & Morrison (Berlin),
Spinello Gallery (Miami), Storehouse Group(San Juan), Vane (UK), and
Voges + Partner (Francfort).
THE CURATED ART FAIR
For the section In the Spot guest curators –among which Michel
Blancsube from the Jumex Collection and Julieta Gonzalez from Espacio
1414- will put together a revolutionary concept-based exhibition from
works exhibited at the fair; at the end of the day the curator will
engage in a critical dialogue with the audience.
CHAMBRES DES COLLECTEURS and COLLECTOR’S PROGRAM
In response to the bourgeoning and dynamic artistic community, an
important group of private collectors has emerged in Puerto Rico. In
cooperation with these collectors and in hommage to Jan Hoet’s Chambres
d’Amis (1986), the section “Chambres des Collecteurs” offers during
CIRCA a unique possibility of visiting private collections. Our
interesting and edgy collector’s program will offer visits to the
following private collections: the Rosalia and Ugobono Collection with
works by Melvin Martinez, Jonathan Meese, Guillermo Kuitca among
others; Horacio Campolietto Collection with works by Erwin Olaf and
Andres Serrano; in addition this year CIRCA will feature the opening of
Luis Gutierrez Latin-American Photo Collection. Also on the VIP
Programme is a visit to the exclusive “Country Club” Dorado Beach East
in order to visit the Pepe Alvarez and Carlos Trapaga Collections.
These are exciting collections you won’t miss that give a good idea of
the collector’s vi
be on the island.
The VIP Program also hosts visits to artists’ studios, gallery walk, museum openings, and parties, in order to make Puerto Rico the ultimate experience for the visiting collector and art lover while enjoying the unique scene of Old San Juan and the incredible reggeaton parties. You can also enjoy the GOLF EXPERIENCE of a lifetime in one of the most celebrated courses in the Caribbean. A first for CIRCA, we invite you to tee off with us on April 15th, at 7:00am.For more information and bookings, call us at (787) 279-7675, or email us at info@circapr.com
About Circa Puerto Rico ‘08
CIRCA Puerto Rico ’08 is organized by Portfolio FIAC, Inc., a
corporation founded by Roberto J. Nieves and Anabelle Lampón to serve
as a leading cultural management company in the Puerto Rican and
Caribbean communities.
CIRCA Puerto Rico ‘08 is sponsored by Caribbean Merchandiser
Services, Caras, MCS, the Normandie Hotel, and the Puerto Rico
Convention Center.
It is supported by: Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, Instituto de Cultura
Puertorriqueña, and Escuela de Artes Plásticas de Puerto Rico.



