Art Madrid'25 – 3 Punts Galery in Art Madrid15

It is called Thierry Guetta and was born in Paris in 1966 but everyone knows him as Mr. Brainwash, one of the most important artists of contemporary urban art. In 2014 he exhibited for the first time in Spain with the Gallery 3 Punts (Barcelona) and he will be on February at the 10th anniversary edition of the fair Art Madrid.

 

Life is Beautiful. Mr. Brainwash.

3Punts Gallery works for almost 20 years in the promotion of contemporary art in its various forms. Directed by Javier López and Eduard Duran, pays special attention to the work of new artists, no forgetting established career artists. In 2014 he made a great signing, the acclaimed street artist Mr. Brainwash.

 
With his hat and settled behind his camera, the French immigrant Thierry Guetta started collecting images about was what happening on the streets of Los Angeles, more specifically in its walls. They were the 90s of last century and graffiti flooded the cities. Obey, Space Invader and Banksy appeared in the media for their critical messages, its appropriation, its literal invasion of public space ... and, soon after, his arrival to the galleries, museums, and art criticism.

Tomato Spray. Mr. Brainwash.

 

Loving urban art, Guetta joined Shepard Fiery and traveled the world recording their stencils and wall paintings, his works and those of all urban artists who they crossed with... and so met Banksy, an essential influence who encouraged him to take another step, leaving the camera and creating his own signature: Mr. Brainwash was born.
 
With stickers, stencils and modifying and creating serial works already produced by others, Mr. Brainwash employs 25 assistants for help to "customize" great art that he scans, copy and paste with his style created to "wash the brain. He made a mega exhibition in 2008, Life is Beautiful, with a relentless communication strategy: a phrase from his friend Banksy: "Mr. Brainwash is a force of nature, is a phenomenon and I'm not saying in a good way. "
 
Media focused on L.A. and Mr.Brainwash, Madonna entrusts him the cover of his album Celebration in 2009 and in 2010 will end up being the protagonist of the documentary Exit trough the gift shop, made from footage recorded by Guetta and edited by Banksy. The movie got an Oscar nomination.

 

Mona Linesa. Mr. Brainwash.

 

Soon they come multitudinous exhibitions as Icons, Under Construction,... Mr. Brainwash exhibited in New York, Miami, Toronto, at the Olympic Games in London, Cape Town ... His work came to Spain, for the first time in November with 3 Punts Gallery in Barcelona and it also comes to Art Madrid 15 next February. 3Punts proposal brings his most representative works, with their POP stamp, silkscreen on canvas, cardboard and paper, icons of contemporary culture passed through the washing-brain of this graffiti artist.
 

Besides the works of Mr. Brainwash, 3 Punts Gallery brings Blek Le Rat, Efraïm Rodríguez, Gerard Mas, Ramón Surinyac, Samuel Salcedo y Sito Mújica.

 
David. Blek Le Rat.

 

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.