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.

NEBRIJA UNIVERSITY ASSERTS AESTHETIC INTELLIGENCE IN THE FACE OF THE ALGORITHMIC ERA AT ART MADRID’26

The Nebrija Space hosts a curatorial project that proposes a critical alternative to the automation of creative thought.

Nebrija University is participating in the 21st edition of Art Madrid with a curatorial project that offers a critical reflection on the relationship between art education, the market, and technology. Under the concept of Aesthetic Intelligence, the proposal positions itself as an alternative to the algorithmic logic of Artificial Intelligence, prioritizing sensitivity, gesture, materiality, and experience as forms of knowledge that cannot be automated.

At a historic moment in which Artificial Intelligence is bursting onto the scene in all areas of cultural production, generating both fascination and concern, Nebrija University is committed to defending those dimensions of the artistic experience that remain irreducible to algorithmic logic. This is not a question of denying the impact of technology or adopting a technophobic stance, but rather of identifying and defending those areas of knowledge that require the presence of the body, sensitivity, gesture, and lived experience.

Álvaro Fernández. Remember/Forget. Mixed media on canvas. 40 x 60 cm. 2026.

The central concept of the proposal is that of Aesthetic Intelligence, understood as a form of knowledge that integrates the sensory, the affective, the intuitive, and the cultural. In contrast to the logic of Artificial Intelligence, based on algorithms, recognition patterns, and the capacity for mass replication, Aesthetic Intelligence prioritizes dimensions that remain anchored in the unique human experience: the unique and unrepeatable gesture, the physical presence of the body in the creative act, the material texture of the supports and pigments, and the temporality of the creative process.

This claim takes on special importance in a context in which generative AI is capable of producing images in a matter of seconds, processing millions of previous visual references to synthesize new compositions. However, what the machine cannot replicate is precisely what constitutes the core of the aesthetic experience. The affective resonance of a specific color applied with a certain pressure on a specific surface, the intuitive decision that arises from the dialogue between the artist and the material, or the productive error that opens up unexpected paths.

Aesthetic Intelligence is thus understood as a form of epistemic resistance, a defense of those ways of knowing the world that cannot be automated because they are constitutively linked to the embodied, situated, and temporal experience of creative subjects.

Pablo Padilla Sadurni. ST. Repaired passe-partout and acrylic. 18 x 18 x 48 cm. 2026.

Under the provocative neologism NotanIA SipedagogIE, which encapsulates the conceptual proposal in its very formulation: “Not so much AI, more pedagogy.” This linguistic construction, which plays with the presence and absence of fragments of the words “Artificial Intelligence” and “pedagogy,” signals a clear stance on the role of artistic training in today's technological context.

It proposes a critical pedagogy that does not reject technology but refuses to subordinate artistic learning processes to the logic of efficiency, optimization, and reproduction that characterize algorithmic systems. Faced with the temptation to use AI as a shortcut or substitute for the creative process, this pedagogy vindicates the formative value of trial and error, material experimentation, and time devoted to exploration without a predetermined goal.

A pedagogy that is also defined as empathetic, in the sense that it recognizes and values the affective and relational dimension of artistic learning, which does not understand creation as an isolated individual act but as a process that involves emotional resonances, symbolic exchanges, and collective construction of meaning. The stand itself, conceived as a choral work, embodies this understanding of creation as a shared experience.

Verónica Bergua Tabuyo. Cartography of Uncle Pablo. Digital video. Edition: 1/5. 2:40 min. 2026.

The methodology proposed for the project is as rigorous as it is open to experimentation. Each participating student begins their creative process by poetically appropriating a verse, a stanza that will serve as the conceptual and emotional seed of the work. The choice of poetry, as a form of language that condenses multiple and ambiguous meanings, that works with sonic and visual resonances, that suggests rather than describes, constitutes an ideal starting point for a project that champions the ineffable, that which cannot be fully translated into code.

Starting with the selection of a verse, each artist has developed a mood board conceived as a board of atmospheres and, at the same time, as a sensitive cartography of the process. This resource allows the imagery of the verse to be expanded through objects, images, textures, materials, and other elements that resonate with the initial poetic experience. It is a tool that makes the process of intersemiotic translation visible: the transition from verbal to visual language, from textual to material, highlighting the transformations and shifts that occur along the way.

The next step involves developing a two-dimensional work that deliberately avoids written language. This restriction seeks to prioritize visual and material exploration over textual narrative, relying on the communicative power of form, color, texture, and composition. The work must speak for itself, without the need for verbal explanations to mediate between the piece and the viewer.

The creative process is conceived from an experimental logic similar to that of a laboratory, where trial, error, correction, and rehearsal are an integral part of the method. No predetermined result is sought; rather, the work is allowed to emerge from the dialogue between the initial intention and the possibilities (and resistances) of the materials.

Blanca Lanaspa. Witness 176.8. Mixed media ceramics. 40.8 x 176.8 cm. 2026.

The booth that houses the Nebrija Space is conceived as a work of art in itself, with a choral and transitory character. Inspired by Madrid's SER Zones, those areas of regulated temporary parking, the exhibition space is designed as a territory of symbolic transit, a place of ephemeral occupation that invites reflection on presence, desire, and temporality.

This metaphor of SER Zones is particularly powerful, because just as these urban spaces allow for the temporary occupation of public space under certain conditions, the stand is presented as a territory that artists temporarily occupy during the fair, establishing a dialogue between permanence (the works as physical objects that will remain after the event) and transience (the specific spatial configuration that exists only during the days of the fair).

The choral nature of the project underscores the collective dimension of artistic creation. It is not a sum of individualities but a polyphony of voices that intertwine, resonate, and dialogue with each other. Each individual work maintains its autonomy but takes on new meanings in relation to the others, generating a fabric of visual, conceptual, and affective correspondences.

Marialex Arcaya. The wine cellar. Acrylic on wood. 80 x 160 cm. 2026.

The project brings together the work of seven students from the Fine Arts Degree program at Nebrija University: Marialex Arcaya develops “La bodega” (The Cellar), a reflection on everyday objects as containers of memory and identity. Based on the verse: "And at the bottom of my favorite beach bag there is sand, rusty coins, and a receipt for ice cream that no longer exists. Summer can be preserved in layers", the artist explores Venezuelan bodegas as spaces of nostalgia and belonging. Through a series of acrylic paintings on canvas depicting products and packaging, she investigates how the most mundane objects can function as repositories of memories and markers of cultural identity. Her work raises questions about what we erase and what we preserve, about how the passage of time transforms both objects and ourselves, celebrating the capacity for rebirth and transformation that characterizes the human experience.

Laura Nogales. Another Spring. Acrylic and embroidery on canvas. 94.5 x 38.6 inches. 2026.

Laura Nogales participates with “Another Spring,” a textile installation that explores the decomposition and deconstruction of the concept of femininity in a transitory environment: the shower. Her work, constructed from scraps, recycled clothing remnants, stockings, and various types of fillings, forms an abstract mass that represents decomposed femininity in constant mutation. The drain functions as a symbolic element that swallows everything, witnessing intimate transformations. Nogales addresses how femininity as a shared experience suffers great ups and downs in the current context, where machismo is making a strong comeback in the media and social networks. Her textile proposal generates emotional ambiguity in the viewer, who may feel attracted or repelled by the figure, reflecting the contradictions inherent in the experience of constructing and defending female identity in an adverse context. Her work takes as its reference the fragment of the poem: “Above the shower, the steam draws maps that fade away".

Inés López. Sedentary. Digital photography. 30 x 40 cm. 2026.

Inés López presents Sedentario, a work inspired by the verse: “There, dust particles are an archive in suspension.” The project reflects on the capacity of domestic spaces to preserve what the body forgets when they cease to be inhabited. The photographic series is set inside a house under construction, in rooms suspended between use and abandonment, where absence manifests itself as a silent accumulation of matter, traces, and time. Architectural plans and projections in an unfinished building expand the proposal, establishing a dialogue between the projected space and the lived space, between what was once inhabited and what has not yet begun to be inhabited. The work thus proposes a meditation on the transience of the body in the face of the silent persistence of architecture.

Verónica Bergua Tabuyo. Cartography of Uncle Pablo. Digital video. Edition: 1/5. 2:40 min. 2026.

Verónica Bergua presents “Cartografía del tío Pablo” (Uncle Pablo's Cartography), a deeply personal project that explores the relationship between compulsive hoarding, mental health, and emotional territory. Through a video installation that combines minimalist photography of objects taken from the room of her uncle, who was diagnosed with schizophrenia, Diogenes syndrome, and kleptomania, Bergua constructs a visual map of mental chaos materialized in physical space. The sequence of images, presented at varying speeds, generates an experience of anxiety in the viewer that reflects the nature of compulsive hoarding. Her work invites us to reflect on our own relationship with objects, on the boundaries between need and attachment, and on how the territory we inhabit can become a mirror of our mental territory. His proposal is inspired by the verses: “Under the bed... objects accumulate that we don't remember losing.” “A museum without texts or labels: the drawer of cables from broken devices.” “The box of expired medicines holds the history of ailments that no longer hurt.”

Blanca Lanaspa. Witness 176.8. Mixed media ceramics. 40.8 x 176.8 cm. 2026.

Blanca Lanaspa presents “Testigo 176.8,” a work based on the verse: "The coat rack in the entrance holds what we are before we enter and after we leave. A vertical threshold where transitions hang.“ Her proposal takes the form of a ceramic pegboard, a combinatorial board with removable pieces of different surfaces, glazes, and textures. Each element functions as a ”sensitive accident," the result of processes involving both aesthetic planning and material chance. The pieces explore states of matter: sprouts, leaks, overflows, erosions, cracked surfaces, contractions, and expansions. The tactile and interactive nature of the work invites the viewer to engage with it directly through their body. Accompanied by a mood board documenting the ceramic research process, the piece celebrates the unpredictability of materials and the beauty of the unsystematic.

Pablo Padilla Sadurni. ST. Detail. Repaired mat and acrylic. 7.1 x 7.1 x 18.7 inches. 2026.

Pablo Padilla presents “Untitled,” an architectural sculpture inspired by the verse: “The mismatched sock is not lost: it inhabits a place that does not exist.” Conceived as a spatial analogy for the search for fulfillment, the piece proposes an architectural archetype that refers to the world of ideas; an imagined place, necessary and yet unattainable. Constructed from thin cardboard, the work takes the form of impossible, labyrinthine structures inhabited by scale figures that wander through corridors, staircases, and dead-end rooms. These spaces, simultaneously tense and contemplative, combine the romanticism of introspection with the inhospitable coldness of brutalism. The work creates a surreal atmosphere that oscillates between peaceful and tense, inviting a sensory and emotional experience of shared loneliness, isolation, and the search for mental refuges that do not exist in the physical world.

Álvaro Fernández. Remember/Forget. Detail. Mixed media on canvas. 40 x 60 cm. 2026.

Álvaro Fernández presents “Remember/Forget,” a work inspired by the verse: "In the elevator mirror, two people are reflected without touching each other. What separates them is not air: it is the possibility of saying nothing." Through hybrid works that combine manual transfers on fabric with digitally altered photographs, Fernández explores silence, shared presence, and the coexistence of intimate worlds that do not touch. His transfers, made using gel plates or lavender oil, generate unstable and deteriorated images, like memories in the process of fading. The fragmentation and displacement of photographic elements multiply the scenes, creating layers of overlapping temporality. His work materializes the fragility of memories and the power of silence as a space for nonverbal intimacy.

Blanca Lanaspa. Witness 176.8. Mixed media ceramics. 40.8 x 176.8 cm. 2026.

At a time when the debate on Artificial Intelligence and artistic creation is intensifying, with positions ranging from uncritical enthusiasm to outright rejection, Nebrija University's proposal for Art Madrid'26 offers a third way, a critical stance that does not deny technological reality but clearly defends those dimensions of the artistic experience that remain irreducible to automation.

The concept of Aesthetic Intelligence proposes an epistemological alternative that recognizes the validity of forms of knowledge based on sensitivity, intuition, bodily experience, and affective resonance. These are not “minor” or subsidiary forms of knowledge with respect to rational or algorithmic knowledge, but equally valid modalities that are absolutely fundamental in the field of artistic creation.

This curatorial project thus represents a valuable contribution to the contemporary debate on technology and culture, proposing that university art education should not be limited to preparing students to adapt to the market or the tools available, but should equip them with critical skills, material sensitivity, and awareness of the specificity of their practice.

Art Madrid'26 will thus host a proposal that, beyond its individual aesthetic quality, constitutes a collective reflection on the present and future of artistic creation, on the role of educational institutions in training new generations of artists, and on the need to defend spaces for experimentation, slowness, and materiality in an accelerated and increasingly virtualized world. Through this project, Nebrija University reaffirms the irreplaceable value of Aesthetic Intelligence as a form of knowledge and as a practice of resistance against algorithmic homogenization, committing to a pedagogy that places sensory experience, bodily gesture, and affective resonance at the center as fundamental dimensions of the human condition.