Addicted To Art: Adda Gallery Ibiza
By Pablo Sierra
There are calls that change your life. When Anna Dimitrova, gallery owner and cultural manager, picked up the phone, she did not know that a few months later she would be setting up an art gallery in Ibiza.
When she hung up the phone, this native of Bulgaria, educated in Morocco, and who currently commutes between Barcelona and Paris, was almost instantly convinced to take up the challenge posed to her: to be the artistic heart of Paradiso Ibiza Art Hotel.
–Two years ago Diana Kunst called me and said: “Would you like to open a gallery in Ibiza?” The idea tempted me a lot and, at that moment, I saw everything clearly. I visited the building, which in the future would be the hotel, and I found it impossible not to fall in love with Paradiso.
This is a great example of who Dimitrova is: she isn’t a person to hide her emotions and she doesn’t mind doing drastic turns if passion is behind the wheel. Until 2007 she was dedicated to the world of advertising and communication. From then on she applied her knowledge to branding, marketing and investing her time in what she really loved; art. She especially loves urban art and she said: “There has been an explosion in street art, a real boom, and it is increasingly recognised by a larger audience. It has created authentic fans who follow their favourite artists around the world, and know everything about them. People are very motivated to see this type of art exhibition”. She currently curates artists such as: Escif, Ebok, Levalet, Spok, Smithe, Nuria Mora and Sebas Velasco.
“Desde pequeña me obsesionan la cultura y el arte. Cuando crecí tuve cabeza para darme cuenta de que era bastante mejor organizando que dibujando”, dice Dimitrova. Nobulo y Adda son el fruto de su esfuerzo y de su gusto por la belleza transgresora. A través de sus dos proyectos produce exposiciones por todos los rincones del planeta. En las dos ciudades donde duerme la mayor parte de las noches dirige y gestiona, respectivamente, sendos espacios expositivos: Montana Gallery, en Barcelona, y Adda&Taxie, en París.
“Ever since I was young I have been obsessed with culture and art. When I grew up I realised that I was much better at organising than at drawing, “says Dimitrova. Nobulo and Adda are the fruit of her efforts, as well as her taste for transgressive beauty. She organises exhibitions in all corners of the world through these two projects. Anna currently directs and manages exhibitions in the two cities where she spends the majority of her time, precisely in Montana Gallery in Barcelona, and Adda & Taxie in Paris.
In 2018 Paradiso became a part of her working life, as the place where she has launched Adda Gallery Ibiza: “The risk of filling a hotel with art is that the works end up being simple decoration. This does not happen in Paradiso for a very simple reason: the gallery is independent from the hotel, and although it is separate, it is at the same time connected to the rest of the facilities. We nourish each other, but each zone maintains its personality.” For Dimitrova, that fact that each room is dedicated to a different artist, and that the lobby is a place where art experiences occur is something more than the hotel’s hallmark. It is the soul of Paradiso because “works of art transmit the energy and experiences of their creators in the space where they are exposed”.
The coloured pills of the young Catalan graffiti artist Abel Iglesias (in May and June 2019) and the wild fauna that the Madrid muralist Sabek (in July and August 2019) expresses in his art will be the two individual exhibitions hosted at Adda Gallery Ibiza this season. In September and October 2019, the 4th edition of the collective exhibition “O”, will arrive in Paradiso; a visual ode to eroticism and sensuality, where artists such as Apollonia, Saintclair, Mark Bodé, Alphachanneling, Enric Sant and photographer Diana Kunst, Dimitrova’s great friend, will take part. During the summer, Jorge Arévalo’s illustrations, and the suggestive mixture of painting, photography and nudity by Eric Ceccarini, a Belgian artist based in Ibiza, will define the landscape in the Paradiso lobby.
“I love Spain because the urban artists who live in different cities talk and communicate with each other. They are in constantly in contact and carry out common projects that enrich them as creators. This happens less frequently in other countries such as France, for example. Scheduling an exhibition for an artist like Eric [Ceccarini] in the Ibiza gallery is very interesting because then there is a necessary interaction with local art. Since we opened, many artists from the island have passed through Paradiso to introduce themselves and show their work “, says Anna Dimitrova. She continued: “ Me, my Ibicencan gallery and the Paradiso Ibiza were like a UFO, landing in the middle of Cala de Bou. It was something that had never been seen before in this area. I am convinced that the light of the project will also attract the rest of the zone.” It is safe to say that it is already shining brightly.
“I love Spain because the urban artists who live in different cities talk and communicate with each other. They are in constantly in contact and carry out common projects that enrich them as creators. This happens less frequently in other countries such as France, for example. Scheduling an exhibition for an artist like Eric [Ceccarini] in the Ibiza gallery is very interesting because then there is a necessary interaction with local art. Since we opened, many artists from the island have passed through Paradiso to introduce themselves and show their work “, says Anna Dimitrova. She continued: “ Me, my Ibicencan gallery and the Paradiso Ibiza were like a UFO, landing in the middle of Cala de Bou. It was something that had never been seen before in this area. I am convinced that the light of the project will also attract the rest of the zone.” It is safe to say that it is already shining brightly.
