Art Madrid'25 – 13th edition LOOP videoarts festival Barcelona

Between May 28 and June 6, Barcelona is full of screens to display the works of over 400 video artists from around the world. Most of these works, as has told Emilio Alvarez, co-director of LOOP in the press presentation, have been created in 2015 with two mottos: 
 
- What about Collecting Video art? 
- Beyond the Image.
 
 

Video art, films, are already part of the usual discussion of collectors, critics and experts from the art world and LOOP is been located, along these 13 years, heading the trends, raising new questions and showing new scenarios and trends worldwide. As they say in their program, "this type of work (video art) has become one of the predominant media in contemporary visual arts. Both within institutions and art centers and galleries, the position of video art goes from being peripheral to central and relevant, the audiences grow, as well as public and private collections. " Therefore, for the 2015 edition, the festival features 23 experts to nurture the theoretical and educational part of the event with various lectures and talks.

 

1) Isabel Rocamora in an essay of Faith in Jerusalem, photography by Shira Kela, 2015.

2)  Los Desnudos, 2011 Clarise Hahn

 

LOOP was born as a specialized video art fair in 2003, grew as a festival in 2004 and, responding to the interest of the public and professionals, it expanded their activities to the education and knowledge creating LOOP Studies in 2012 ... And its success is corroborated by the figures: 411 artists show works and participate in educational projects / workshops, 539 works (Festival and Fair), 541 local and international stakeholders, 85 local entities (museums, cultural institutions, galleries, art spaces) and 77 national and international entities collaborating

LOOP Barcelona develops its artistic activities by different areas of the city, being an inclusive event and based on partnership. Samples include exhibitions as Video-Regime. Collectors audiovisual in the Liceu Circle; L'Inconscient Pictòric, reviewing video art collection of Sorigué Foundation in the MNAC; Writting Diffraction in the Virreina Centre de la Imatge, and "Senses of place" in the Royal Artistic Circle of Barcelona, ??and that the organization has defined as "a festival within the festival" where art work is related to sound, film and new media technology.

Cell, 2014 Bongsu Park

But, the programs and film forums are the most popular activities and the special billboard of the Film Archive of Catalonia or Zumzeig room, joins the "Cityscreen", the wider program within the fair that is displayed in 15 galleries and 35 art spaces. In this edition, LOOP presents the new Discovery Prize supports the production of films and videos by international artists. These days Barcelona becomes one of the world capitals of video art.

 

From July 7 to 9, 2025, the Balsera Palace will host the First Course on Collecting and Contemporary Art, an intensive 15-hour program that will explore the complex and fundamental question of taste in contemporary art. Organized by the Nebrija Institute of Arts and Humanities at Nebrija University and the Avilés City Council, in collaboration with 9915 — Association of Private Collectors of Contemporary Art and the Institute of Contemporary Art, the course offers a unique opportunity for analysis and debate on the dynamics that shape aesthetic and symbolic value in today’s art scene.


First Course on Collecting and Contemporary Art. Avilés, Asturias


The notion of taste, intrinsically tied to aesthetic judgments and power relations, has played a decisive role in the historical prominence of artists and artworks. However, contemporary art—marked by its breaking of conventions, diversity of media and techniques, and critical stance toward traditional canons—raises fundamental questions about the continued relevance of this concept.

This course will explore how the decisions made by key players in the art system—institutions, private collections, galleries, curators, and artists—continually redefine a field of taste shaped by aesthetic, symbolic, cultural, social, and political logics.


"¿But does it exist, and what is the prevailing taste of our time—so seemingly confused, fragmented, indecipherable?" - Omar Calabrese, The Neo-Baroque Era.


The academic program, directed by José Luis Guijarro Alonso, Director of the Master’s in Art Market and Related Business Management at Nebrija University, and Pablo Álvarez de Toledo, Head of the Department of Arts at Nebrija University and the Nebrija Institute of Arts and Humanities, will bring together a distinguished group of national experts—including collectors, critics, curators, gallery owners, and artists—whose contributions will address key issues in shaping aesthetic, symbolic, and market value in today’s art world.


PROGRAM

MONDAY, JULY 7

9:30 AM Registration.

10:00 AM Course Opening Nebrija University Avilés City Council Presented by Rosario López Meras – President of the Association of Contemporary Art Collectors, 9915, and Adrián Piera – President of the ICA, Institute of Contemporary Art.

10:30 AM Course Presentation By José Luis Guijarro Alonso – Art Historian and Anthropologist, Researcher, and Director of the Master’s in Art Market and Related Business Management at Nebrija University.

11:00 AM Coffee Break.

11:30 AM Panel Discussion The Taste of Private Collecting as a Prelude to History. Speakers: Candela Álvarez Soldevilla – Entrepreneur and Collector; Javier Quilis – INELCOM Collection; José Miguel Vegas Valle – Collector. Moderator: Luis Feás – Critic and Curator.

1:00 PM Lunch Break.

3:30 PM Individual Lecture On Good Taste in Contemporary Art. Speaker: Marisol Salanova – Curator and Art Critic, Director of Arteinformado.

4:45 PM Panel Discussion The Influence of Galleries in Shaping Contemporary Taste. Speakers: Elba Benítez – Gallerist; Ricardo Pernas – Gallerist (Arniches 26); Aurora Vigil-Escalera – Gallerist. Moderator: Rafael Martín – Coleccion@casamer.

6:00 PM End of Day.

6:30 PM Activity and Cocktail Visit to the Exhibition Asturian Artists in the Pérez Simón Collection – Avilés.

TUESDAY, JULY 8

10:00 AM Individual Lecture Contemporary (Bad) Taste: Kitsch, Camp, and Tacky. Speaker: Julio Pérez Manzanares – Autonomous University of Madrid.

11:00 AM Coffee Break.

11:30 AM Panel Discussion Institutions and the Formation of Contemporary Taste. Speakers: Virginia López – Artist, Founder of PACA_Proyectos Artísticos Casa Antonino; Julieta de Haro – Artistic Director of CentroCentro; Carlos Urroz – Director of Institutional Relations, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía. Moderator: Laura Gutiérrez – Director, School of Art of Oviedo.

1:00 PM Lunch Break.

3:30 PM Panel Discussion Beyond the Eye: The Taste for Ethical, Ecological, Social, or Political Concerns in Contemporary Art. Speakers: Semíramis González – Independent Curator; Eugenio Ampudia – Artist; Claudia Rodríguez-Ponga – Independent Curator. Moderator: Bárbara Mur Borrás – PhD in Fine Arts.

5:00 PM End of Day.

5:30 PM Activity Visit to the Studiolo Exhibition – Candela Álvarez Soldevilla Collection.

WEDNESDAY, JULY 9

9:30 AM Meeting with Asturian Artists Speakers: María Castellanos – Artist; Avelino Sala – Artist; Consuelo Vallina – Artist. Moderator: Pablo Álvarez de Toledo – Nebrija University.

11:00 AM Activity Visit to the Niemeyer Center – Avilés.

Course Closing Ceremony.





This course is designed for art professionals, collectors, researchers, and students seeking an in-depth analysis of the dynamics that shape taste and collecting practices in contemporary art. Adopting a critical and multidisciplinary perspective, it provides a unique opportunity to rigorously examine the aesthetic, symbolic, and structural factors that underpin the legitimization of contemporary art.