By Invitation 2025: the Círculo Ecuestre consolidates its role within the Barcelona artistic scene

The Círculo Ecuestre de Barcelona reaffirms itself as one of the most unique meeting spaces between collecting, galleries and contemporary art with the sixth edition of By Invitation, a show that has grown strongly under the initiative of Enrique Lacalle, president of the club and creator of the project.

Lacalle has managed to transform what began as an internal commitment to modern collecting into a prestigious platform within Barcelona's artistic ecosystem, fully integrating itself into the city's map of fairs and cultural events. By Invitation is not a club eccentricity, but a proposal that dialogues with Barcelona's cultural tradition and with the dynamism of the galleries and foundations that give it context.

When asked if there was a possibility of taking the project beyond the Círculo Ecuestre, Lacalle acknowledged that he is a devotee of the idea of holding a much more ambitious and open edition in the city, but that often “the agents who first say yes later back down.” According to him, the current format of By Invitation is “possibilist and realistic,” and allows for a natural coexistence with other reference events such as ArtsLibris, Swab and Loop, which complete the Barcelona artistic ecosystem.

This year, the fair presents 23 exhibition projects and more than 80 international artists from Europe, Latin America, Africa and the Caribbean. It will be held from 6 to 9 November at the club's historic headquarters, with the support of Barcelona City Council, Grau and Andbank, among other collaborators.

PedroTorres_ Timelines (2024) _ Zienlinsky (Barcelona and Sao Paulo)

### From the idea to the curatorial story

Since 2024, the artistic direction has been in charge of Dr. Mariella Franzoni, cultural manager and doctor in Art History, who has brought a more curatorial and discursive vision to the project. Under her guidance, By Invitation has opened up to internationalization and a critical reading of contemporary collecting, linking historic galleries, emerging spaces and new generation artists.

This year's edition is structured around three themes: Palacete, Vértigo and Espuela, three ways of thinking about the dialogue between modern, post-war and contemporary art.

### Three programs, three drives

Palacete, the heart of the show, presents intergenerational stories —such as the dialogues between Joan Hernández Pijuan and Violeta Mayoral, or Marcel Rubio and Jaume Plensa— and emphasizes the continuity between modern memory and current languages.
Vértigo is committed to the most urban and spontaneous energy, with names such as Gastón Lisak, Flora Castiglia, Brenda Cabrera or Zoilo Blanca, and for the first time incorporates international galleries such as BKV Fine Art (Milan) and Shazar (Naples).
Finally, Espuela, heir to the founding spirit of the project, recovers the connection with the secondary market and the taste for classic presentation, with works by Miró, Chagall, Guinovart or Manolo Valdés.

### Internationalization and complicity

This sixth edition reinforces its international dimension with the participation of artists and projects from Gabon, Mexico, Brazil, Uruguay, Cuba, Italy, Germany and Jamaica. Highlights include Owanto, linked to the 2017 Venice Biennale, or Yamandú Canosa, who participated in 2019, both in dialogue with Barcelona galleries such as Reiners Contemporary Art and Piramidón.

There will also be live participation from 15 artists, in addition to a conference on the management of artistic heritage and the family legacy of collectors and galleries, organized by Cuatrecasas. In this same framework, the gallerist Carles Durán, director of the Senda Gallery, stressed the urgency of reviewing the cultural VAT, a tax that —as he pointed out— “is brutally penalizing the gallery industry both in Catalonia and in Spain” and that slows down the competitiveness of the sector compared to other European countries.

This reflection positioned By Invitation not only as a prestigious showcase, but also as a space for debate on the real conditions of art and the market within the Barcelona context.

Marcel Rubio “Entrando” (2025) Senda Gallery (Barcelona)

### Barcelona, hub of contemporary collecting

With more than 9,000 visitors in the previous edition, By Invitation consolidates its role as a space for dialogue between tradition and contemporaneity, and places Barcelona at the center of the debate on private and institutional collecting.

Far from wanting to be just another fair, the project seeks to reaffirm a way of doing things that is typical of the city: proximity, rigor and coexistence between art, society and patronage.

Josep Guinovart Poet in New York (1998) Silvia Sennacheribbo (Barcelona)