Connecting through art

It's not easy for any artist to build a career. The world of art can often be a complex place for emerging young talent without much of a CV. Untitled BCN is an arts organisation created precisely in order to give these young artists their first opportunity. Xavier Kaye and Jessica Casey decided to create the independent art venue in Barcelona's Gràcia neighbourhood in 2008, without imagining that the crisis was around the corner. Even so, seven years later, not only have they resisted, but their project is growing constantly.

Because of their English origins, Kaye's and Casey's vision of the artistic experience is different than the local one. Their venue on carrer Topazi speaks for itself. It offers an open and enriching vision of the connection they established with artists from different countries: “We work with what we call 'early career multi-disciplinary artists', which means artists who finished their studies and want to pursue a professional artistic career. It's different than emerging artists, who are already in the circuit,” they point out.

Kaye and Casey fill the venue's agenda with events and exhibitions that bring together Catalan and foreign artists from the UK, the US, and so on: “We don't force any interaction between them, but we do offer them all the facilities so they can share their creative worlds,” they say.

Untitled BCN hosts festivals and events, and also has a programme offering foreign artists the opportunity to discover Barcelona's artistic landscape. They have agreements with various UK universities, to whom they propose a range of activities to be done over a five-day stay. The activities are varied and different from the typical tourist visits, and are designed to offer personalised, unique experiences. For instance, a route through the public artistic landscape of Barcelona which aims to “tell the history of the city and the history of the country, often completely unknown to them”. The stay is completed by a collective exhibition at Untitled BCN.

The venue itself is much more than an exhibition space. There is a small workshop which a guest artist can use for a month.

“They return to their countries with totally renewed energy,” they say. The organisation is also very active in the local artistic world. The partners coordinate Tallers Oberts in Gràcia and organise the feminist art festival La Dinamitera.

After seven years, the venue is constantly evolving and coming up with new projects, such as inviting UK artists over and offering them a cultural tour of Empordà and Barcelona; another project takes young Catalan art students to the UK and helps them get to know and connect with the English artistic world.

Untitled BCN started the new season this year with a special exhibition, dedicated to the established artist Yago Vilamanyà. It is an exception, Kaye explains: ”He is the first artist I knew and he influenced me enormously. Thanks to him I became an artist and decided to study sculpture.”