VALENCIA. The map of art galleries in Valencia is growing. Or, rather, it transforms. In just a few days, the city will welcome BlackLight, a new exhibition space that was born with the aim of enriching the local cultural panorama through a program that will focus on mainly international artists, creators who rarely – or, sometimes, never – have presented their work in Valencia. “Our goal was to open a space that would also connect with people from outside. There are artists who exhibit in Madrid or Barcelona but who do not arrive here.”
These words are signed by the artist and gallerist Susana Do Santos who, together with Elena Blasco Tomero, leads this new exhibition space, located at number 20 Reina Na Germana Street, which will open its doors in just a few days. It will do so, of course, with a project in transition, waiting to fully spread its wings next September, coinciding, in addition, with the celebration of Abierto València, the season opening ‘party’ of the galleries of contemporary art of the city. In this way, this first exhibition, whose inauguration will be on Thursday, June 13, will be both a welcome and a farewell party, because BlackLight arrives, but leaves Josephand Luis Navarro Bayarri.
And the space had until now been the workshop and exhibition space of the Valencian artist, a space that a few months ago he decided to leave and that with the help of Do Santos and Blasco will maintain, although with a different project, its cultural use. However, this week this kind of ‘transfer of portfolios’ will be celebrated with an exhibition that will celebrate the work of Bayarri, an exhibition that will review the work of a creator “capable of moving skillfully between figuration and abstraction with total naturalness. ”. In addition to his landscape work, a small corner of urban painting has been created with a selection of pieces that deal with the city of Valencia itself.
The “elegant” paintings of Navarro Bayarri, as the new gallery owners explain, will be the ones that give way to an exhibition space that will reveal its cards in September, since its promoters are still busy finishing landing a project that continues to take shape, although they do give us some clues. “The space was more focused on their artistic work, now the idea is to give a radical change to the gallery, especially to bring in artists from abroad. In addition, we want the gallery to serve as a venue for workshops, to promote training and for different artists to come and give master classes.”
And more clues. The new course will bring a collective exhibition with which they will be presented to the public and colleagues in the sector, a project in which, although the focus is on artists from abroad, a Valencian from around the world will have an important role. She will be the artist Olga Esther the “pillar” of this first proposal, a creator who has exhibited all over the world and who now finds a new space, this time in her city, to show the magical surrealism of her works.
How could it be otherwise, in this presentation, the first thing is the names. So why BlackLight? “Black light is used as a work tool in workshops to authenticate works of art, also to perceive things impossible to see with natural light. We are very interested in the artistic trajectory and techniques, in how artists create their works. The concept is a very important part but, also, as we both come from Fine Arts, we are very interested in the processes. It is something that we are passionate about.” Delighted, then, BlackLight.
