Can Ibiza 2025 focuses on painting and consolidates its boutique model

Can, Contemporary Art Now , returned for its fourth edition from June 25 to 29, 2025 in the spaces of Fecoev, at the gates of the evocative city walls of Ibiza. The fair reconfirmed its winning formula, the boutique dimension with 30 galleries, the emerging contemporary art, the relaxed atmosphere typical of the Mediterranean and the energy of early summer. In an increasingly uniform and predictable fair context, Can Ibiza stands out as a creative oasis capable of attracting a transversal audience: collectors, art lovers, luxury holidaymakers and new international residents who, after the pandemic, have transformed the island into a privileged refuge.

Edith Dekyndt, «Puerta Del Cielo (Heaven's Gate)». Video Can Garita & Los Enamorados. Courtesy Galerie Greta Meert

Far from the speculative clichés and hyper-conceptual installations that crowd the great global fairs, can 2025 courageously relaunches painting, as a central language signed by young artists making their debut on the market. Many of the artists exhibited come from peripheral contexts compared to the great art centers, some have recently finished their studies and find here a space of legitimacy that escapes the usual logics of visibility and market.

Francesc Rosselló. «Two self-portraits in the studio», 2025. Oil and acrylic on canvas. Courtesy of the artist and Galeria Pelaires

And on the commercial front, the fair is well aware of the potential of demand and consequently the galleries invited to participate offer works with a price range that starts from one thousand euros and does not go beyond 50 thousand euros, a level that has favored some purchases - albeit in a reflexive mode even in this more affordable context - during the opening but at the same time there has been no lack of curiosity on the part of the public. Numerous galleries from Spain and the Mediterranean area, and among these LA BIBI + REUS two galleries from Palma de Mallorca, which recently merged "with the aim of becoming more competitive on a global level and broadening the scope of the artists they represent". In their Mediterranean-inspired stand, the prices of the artists exhibited ranged between 1,500 euros and 20 thousand euros. The paintings of the young Jamie Bragg (born in 2001) have found a new destination. They take inspiration from the photographs taken by his great-grandfather between 1915 and 1916, which mix serene landscapes and moments of camaraderie with the harsh reality of trench warfare (from Gathering, London, Cologne, Ibiza, prices from 2 to 8 thousand pounds), as well as the canvases of Lydia Blakeley in which she transfers what surrounds her, often translated first through the screen of her camera or laptop. Presented by Tube Gallery (Palma de Mallorca), it won the OD Hotel prize, one of the sponsors of the fair (prices from 5 thousand to 23 thousand euros).

Also appreciated was the work of Francesc Rosselló (1994) between the intimate and the allegorical (Galeria Pelaires, Palma de Mallorca prices from 10 to 14 thousand euros for large paintings), while in the stand of the Herrero de Tejada gallery (Madrid), for the first time at the fair with several emerging artists, the work Gema Quiles (1994) attracted attention, which through dense surfaces and saturated colors reflects on the creation of new private spaces as refuge (prices from one thousand to 3,600 euros). There was no shortage of international galleries and, among these, from New York but also with a recently opened base in Basel, 532 Gallery which presented, among others, Yongjae Kim , American but originally from South Korea, who in his paintings portrays ordinary spaces and urban places, arousing a sense of solitude, desolation and melancholy (prices from 700 to 5 thousand euros).

Stefan Strumbel. «The Owl», 2025. Courtesy Ruttkowski

Ibiza’s cultural ecosystem is expanding and the fair acts as the hub of the new art week, an initiative supported by the local government to relaunch Ibiza as a cultural destination, rather than a nightlife destination. The OFF program supported by the Balearic tourism company is outlined through site-specific exhibitions in a historic lighthouse in Sant Antoni, in a restored mill in Sa Punta des Molí and in other places on the island such as La Nave Salinas, a salt warehouse transformed into an exhibition space. Founded by the Colombian collector and hotelier from New York Lio Malca in recent years it has hosted important installations by artists such as Bill Viola and Kenny Scharf and for this event the space is enriched by the large material and chromatic canvases of the Californian artist Spencer Lewis (in Italy he works with Massimo De Carlo). For the second year, the fair has installed a public sculpture in Ibiza's old town as part of its public art program: a monumental bronze owl designed by German artist Stefan Strumbel (from Ruttkowski 68, at the fair the small sculptures range in price from 8 to 9 thousand euros).