The Crystal Gallery of CentroCentro Cibeles, a space in which the Art Madrid Contemporary Art Fair has been held for the fifth consecutive year, has received more than 20,000 visitors, between Wednesday, February 21 and Sunday, February 25, among which it has increased up to a 20% the percentage of professional public and collectors, both private and institutional.

Photo by Julia Mateo from Madphoto

For this 13th edition, the selection committee of Art Madrid’18, formed by the international art market specialist Ángel Samblancat; the theorist and art critic Alfonso de la Torre, the gallery owner Javier López Vélez, from 3 Punts (Barcelona) and, the independent curator Carlos Delgado Mayordomo, assessed more than a hundred proposals to give shape to a program with quality and potential of sales, demanding to the galleries coherent and avant-garde proposals.

“I liked the hyperactivity of the fair and the ambient of permanent enthusiasm and, of course, the meeting space that is created between established artists and new emerging voices. Art Madrid has become a very different proposal, in the sense of distinguished, in the hectic artistic February”, says Alfonso de la Torre. On the other hand, Samblancat highlights “the best selection of proposals by exhibitors at the fair and greater openness to international galleries, for example in Latin America with magnificent representations such as Collage Havana of Cuba, Italy with Casa Falconieri of Cagliari, Asia with Yiri Arts of Taipei and his new contributions, from Germany with Schmalfuss and Robert Drees, from Ukraine with Nebo Art Gallery from Kiev and his exciting fabrics of exquisite talent”.

Photo by Miguel Ángel Satué from Madphoto

ENTHUSIASM AMONG COLLECTORS AND FEATURED ARTISTS

Frasco Pinto and Pedro Pinto, directors of the Artizar de Tenerife Gallery, highlight the variety of the public in “a very visited fair, with art lovers of all kinds. Veteran collectors, young collectors, visitors with no more aim than to see and enjoy art and curious". In terms of sales, his proposal, a ONE PROJECT by Carlos Nicanor “has covered and exceeded expectations. The truth is that it has worked very well”, they say. Jaime Sordo, president of the Association of Collectors 9915 was one of the collectors who chose a piece of Nicanor for his collection “Los Bragales”. For the gallerist Arancha Osoro from Oviedo, the balance has been very positive and “adespite bringing a new and personal choice, difficult in some case to defend in such a large market, we are happy because we have sold work of all our artists, highlighting especially the pieces of artists that have gone to private collections, such as an acrylic by Jezabel Rodríguez, a large-scale work by Nuria Formenti and a piece by the sculptor Kiko Miyares ”.

Along with the artists already mentioned, there are other artists appreciated by the collectors and buyers of this edition, such as the painter Lino Lago (with several pieces sold with the Moret Art gallery in A Coruña), Taiwanese Lai Wei-Yu drom the Yiri Arts gallery (the youngest painter in the collection of the Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts), the sculptor Candela Muniozguren who sold several pieces of her ONE PROJECT with the gallery Bea Villamarín, the Korean Joo Eun Bae, an authentic revelation from the MH Art Gallery in Bilbao, Carmen Calvo, National Fine Arts Prize, from which several collages were sold in the Art Lounge gallery in Lisbon, or Roldán Lauzán from the Cuban gallery Collage Habana, one of whose portraits is already part of the Colección Bassat.

Lino Lago

1.Rojo, 2017

Oil on linen

30 x 24cm

Candela Muniozguren

Tetrix 04, 2017

Lacquered steel

50 x 20cm

Lai Wei-Yu

After School Fight, 2017

Oil on canvas

116 x 91cm

For Sara Joudi, from the Galería Shiras Valencia) for the first time in Art Madrid, “there was a profile of new collectors and occasional buyers who were very interested in our proposal and acquired work. There was a favorable environment for the sale and very positive comments on the general proposal of the fair. We sold works of all the artists we carry. “ From another of the new galleries, Diwap Gallery (Sevilla), his co-director Juan Cruz says that his time at Art Madrid has been "a rewarding experience seeing how the work of urban artists and environments different from the usual one is being introduced, it’s a slow road but you have to do it and be patient and Art Madrid has made a very good bet “.

Javier López, from Galeria 3 Punts highlights an “increasingly interesting and younger audience” that surprised them as potential buyers because in this edition they have “exceeded sales expectations”. The 3 Punts proposal included, among others, Okuda San Miguel, Samuel Salcedo, Gerard Mas, Mark Jenkins and Ramon Surinyac. In this sense, the German gallery Robert Drees, reference space for contemporary art in Hannover, highlights “the energy and enthusiasm of buyers and art lovers among the public of Art Madrid” without forgetting “the space, an unparalleled location to show art”.

Pepa Salas

Alles wird gut, 2017

Acrylic on canvas

80 x 80cm

Okuda San Miguel

Punk Horse, 2017

Synthetic enamel and fiberglass

68 x 60cm

The proposal of the galería Luisa Pita, according to the gallerist, “has captured the attention of collectors and entities such as the Caja Burgos Foundation with whom I have closed an exhibition project for Christian Villamide, or collaborations with two architectural studios to integrate works by Pierre Louis Geldenhuys in his next projects”, says the gallerist.

This possibility of new projects, the meeting with other professionals, is one of the experiences the artists most appreciate. “EIt is the perfect link to contact other galleries, private collectors, share experiences with other artists... Participate in Art Madrid opens a range of possibilities for any artist, motivating him to continue creating with the spirit and perspective of being able to live of art”, explains the Spanish Pepa Salas, represented by the Robert Drees gallery.

For Rubén Martín de Lucas, one of the most valued artists in the latest editions of Art Madrid with the BAT alberto cornejo gallery, the fairs “are a great energizer, especially at the art market level (necessary to support the entire structure). It serves very well as a complement to the more leisurely and profound work carried out by the artists in the galleries and institutions. In addition, being able to meet the public, have their opinion, have their opinion firsthand... shortens the distance between artist and audience. The image of the deified artist in his pulpit is deceptive and unreal. “

Rubén Martín de Lucas

Large Wild Garden 03, 2017

Crayon, oil and enamel

180 x 240cm

“It’s one of the fairs where I’ve most socialized and I’ve felt very comfortable in contact with the public, I’ve felt very loved. I really liked participating in one of the best fairs in my country, championing a series of artists that symbolize certain changes in the art market, “ adds Okuda San Miguel, Guest Artist at Art Madrid’18.

Okuda San Miguel, Photo by Miguel Ángel Satué from Madphoto

GUESTS AND PERSONALITIES

The official inauguration of Art Madrid’18 was attended by, among other personalities, the ambassadors of Germany, Brazil, Ukraine, France, Switzerland, Sweden, Italy, Chile, Russia, the ambassador of Costa Rica, Mexico, as well as Mr. Pedro Berhan da Costa, Culture Counselor of the Embassy of Portugal, Mrs. Natasha Díaz, First Secretary of the Embassy of Cuba, Mr. Antonio Lee, Cultural Attaché of the Economic and Cultural Office of Taipei, Mr. Ryan Matheny Garrido, Deputy Cultural Attaché of the United States Embassy, a good example of the importance that the fair already has among collectors and foreign professionals.

On the part of the local institutions have visited the fair Dª. Manuela Carmena, Mayor of Madrid, D. Óscar Sáenz de Santa María, Director of Cultural Industries and the Book of MECD, Mr. Luis Serrano, of the General Directorate of Cultural Heritage of the Community of Madrid, as well as Dª. Elisa de Cabo de la Vega Deputy Director General for the Protection of the Historical Heritage of the Ministry of Culture MECD.

Dª Manuela Carmena and the artist Antonyo Marest. Photo by Sara Ortega from Madphoto

As a representative of cultural institutions and foundations: Luis Lafuente Batanero, General Director of Fine Arts and Cultural Heritage, Javier del Campo of Fundación Caja de Burgos, Dª. Leticia Martín, Manager Atlantic Center of Modern Art-CAAM, Mr. D. Santiago Miralles, General Director of the Casa de América, Dª. María Brancós Barti, Head of Exhibitions of the Fundación Telefónica and Ms. Rosario López Director of Cultural Projects of the Banco de Santander Foundation.

The work of Iyán Castaño (Oviedo, 1996) is situated within a genealogy of contemporary art that interrogates the tension between the ephemeral and the permanent, placing artistic practice on a threshold where nature, time, and perception converge. His research begins with an apparently minor geomorphological phenomenon—the traces left in the sand by the action of the tides—and transforms it into a poetic device for sensitive observation of the landscape. The temporal restriction imposed by low tide functions not only as a technical constraint but also as a conceptual structure that organizes the creative process and aligns it with an ethic of radical attention and presence.

Far from approaching the landscape as a mere backdrop or stage, Castaño recognizes in the maritime environment a generative system that precedes all human intervention. The sea, wind, and light produce autonomous records that he translates pictorially, shifting authorship toward a practice of listening and mediation.

The territory—initially asturian and progressively extended to other geographical contexts—functions as a material archive and situated memory. Each work becomes an unrepeatable index of a specific place and moment, revealing the fragility of natural cycles without resorting to explicit rhetoric of denunciation. In this way, Iyán Castaño’s painting operates as an active pause, a gesture of suspension that allows us to experience the world’s constant transformation from a sensitive and reflective proximity.

Open waters. 14-04-24. Expanded graphic on canvas. 2024. Detail.

In your practice, you work under the time constraint imposed by low tide. How does this temporal limit shape your creative process?

Low tide profoundly conditions my working method, but it does not function merely as a time limit; rather, it is the axis around which the entire project is structured. There is a prior phase in which I study meteorological conditions and the possible climatic variations of a specific day; based on this, I know whether I will be able to work and with which materials.

Once on the beach, during low tide, I have a very limited window—sometimes barely two hours or even less—in which I must move through the space searching for existing traces. If I find one, I intervene in it; if not, I must move on to another beach. After the intervention, I have to remove it quickly before the sea returns and erases every trace. In a way, these works transform the ripples of sand—those forms that are essentially ephemeral—into something permanent.

Where the sea is born. 15-09-25. Expanded graphic on canvas. 40 x 60 cm. Rodiles Beach, Asturias. 2025.

How does the meteorological and maritime environment—the unpredictability of the sea, wind, light, and tide—become a co-author of your pieces?

I do not consider the environment a co-author in the traditional sense, but rather the true author of the traces I work with. I am interested in understanding nature as a great creator: through tides, waves, wind, and light, the sand generates forms that are in constant regeneration. In order to create my works, the sea must first have created its own.

From there, using acrylics, oils, waxes, or sprays, I attempt to translate into the work my sensations and emotions in front of the sea at that specific moment. Whether it is winter or summer, cloudy or sunny, a small cove or an expansive beach, all of these context conditions result and become imprinted in the work.

Sand Ripples. 07-04-21. Expanded graphic on canvas. 189 x 140 cm. Niembro Estuary. Asturias. 2021.

Your work is closely tied to the Asturian territory—beaches, coastal forests, the cove of La Cóndia. What role do place, topography, local identity, and geographic memory play in your practice?

Place is everything in my project. Asturias was the point of departure and the territory where my gaze was formed. I have been working along this line for seven years, and over time I have come to understand that each trace is inseparable from the specific site and the exact day on which it is produced.

From there, I felt the need to expand the map and begin working in other territories. So far, I have developed works in Senegal, Ecuador, the Galápagos Islands, Indonesia, and elsewhere—and in each case, the result is completely different. The sea that bathes those coasts, the arrangement of the rocks, the morphology of the beach, or even the animals that inhabit it generate unique traces, impossible to reproduce elsewhere. This specificity of territory—its topography and geographic memory—is inscribed in each work in a singular, inseparable, and unrepeatable way.

Mangata. 05-11-25. Expanded graphic on canvas. 190 x 130 cm. Sorraos Beach. Llanes. 2025.

To what extent are climate change, rising sea levels, altered tidal cycles, or coastal erosion present—or potentially present—as an underlying reflection in your work?

My work does not originate from an ecological intention or a direct form of protest. If there is a reflection on the environment, it emerges indirectly, by bringing people closer to the landscape, inviting them to observe attentively and to develop a more empathetic relationship with the environment they inhabit. Beaches are in constant transformation, but I do not seek to fix the landscape; rather, I attempt to convey the experience of being in front of it. In this sense, each work is like a small sea that one can take home.

Tree of Life. 19-02-25. Expanded graphic on canvas. 50 x 70 cm. El Puntal Beach. Asturias. 2025.

To what extent do you plan your work, and how much space do you leave for the unexpected—or even for mistakes?

In my work there is very little planning in terms of the final result, but there is a very precise preliminary planning. Before going to the beach, I monitor the time of low tide, wave height, wind, and weather conditions; based on this, I decide which beach to go to. Even so, when I arrive, I still do not know what work I am going to make. It is there that I determine which material to use, which color to apply, and where the intervention will take place. Many times, the environment simply does not allow work on that day, and chance becomes an essential element of these works. Error, in turn, becomes a new possibility if one learns how to work with it.