Art Madrid'25 – Arte Santander celebrates its 24th edition

 

 

It seems that the "solo project" format has curdled in the latest editions of ArteSantander and has managed to consolidate and differentiate a fair with great participation. ArteSantander turns 24 and demonstrates that, in a delicate situation, the involvement of the institutions is essential to perpetuate the projects.

 

 

 

In the edition of 2015, the selection committee made up of professionals like Alicia Ventura, Benjamin Weil, Moises Perez de Albeniz and Juan Gonzalez Riancho, have had to decide which of the 90 submitted projects are the best for the 42 stands of ArteSantander. Finally, 39 spanish galleries and 3 from Germany will display their proposals but have received proposals also from Portugal, France and Italy.

 

 

Along with veteran galleries in Santander as Canem, Angeles Baños, Blanca Soto and Rafael Ortiz, they land for the first time young as Galería Alegría, Espacio Valverde, Javier Lopez or La Gran, from Valladolid, and other, as The Twin Gallery, comes for second time. Six spaces are reserved for Cantabrian galleries.

 

 

 

 
 

ArteSantander runs parallel to the art collectors forum organized by the Menendez Pelayo University, Asoc. Of Collectors 9915 and IAC / Institute of Contemporary Art, with the help of the Banco Santander Foundation, which ensures that the visits be rich and specialized.

New this year, led by The Latamuda, is the program Curator's Talk!, a meeting and discussion event with curators about "different conceptions, models and strategies for the artistic practices" and that will serve as a platform of reflection and exchange between the guests and the audience. In an interview format, the participants are: Gema Llamazares with the project "necessary and possible" by the artist Irma Alvarez-Laviada, curated by Nicolas Combarro/ Guillermina Caicoya gallery with 'sun_moon: the logic of perception' of Nicholas Word, curated by Alfredo Aracil / L21 Gallery with 'Brikoexposición' Alvaro Gil, curated by Francesco Gisveri / and Jose de la Fuente with 'mortis causa' by Antonio Diaz Grande. We can listen to all of them on July 28 at 18 at the Palace of Exhibitions and Congresses of Santander where the fair takes place.

 

 

 

Galerías y proyectos ArteSantander 2015:


A del Arte (Zaragoza) Roberto Coromina “Tiza sobre pintura”
Adora Calvo (Salamanca) Fernando Renes
Alegría (Madrid) José Ramón Ais y Raúl Domínguez “Fuera de campo”
Ángeles Baños (Badajoz) Javier Arbizu
Artizar (Santa Cruz de Tenerife) Amparo Sard “Sombras”
Astarté (Madrid) Olalla Gómez “Por.venir”
ATM (Asturias) Kepa Garraza
Blanca Soto (Madrid) Ruth Quirce y Manuel Saro
Cànem (Castellón) Antonio Alcaraz “Espacios industriales. Carbó i acer poética d´una memoria”
Carolina Rojo (Zaragoza) Iñaki Bergera “Twentysix (Abandoned) Gasolined stations”
Cavecanem (Sevilla) Atin Aya “Memoria inmediata”
Collectiva (Alemania) Edith Kollath
Espacio Marzana (Vizcaya) Edu López, “Input”
Espacio Valverde (Madrid) Alfredo Rodríguez “Limbo”
Espai Tactel (Valencia) Ana Barriga y Javier Palacios “Visual storytelling”
Espai Visor (Valencia) Bleda y Rosa, “Campos de batalla. España”, “Campos de batalla. Europa” y “Origen”
Ethall. Dibujo Contemporáneo (Barcelona) Aleksandra Kopff vs Ignacio Sáez Palacios
Gema Llamazares (Asturias) Irma Álvarez-Laviada “Lo necesario y lo posible”
Greusslich Contemporary (Alemania) José Noguero + Vanesa Farfán
Guillermina Caicoya (Asturias) Nicholas Wood “Sun_Moon: la lógica de la percepción”. Comisario: Alfredo Aracil
Javier López (Madrid) Todd James
JM (Málaga) Carlos Miranda y Tete Álvarez
Kir Royal (Madrid) Keke Vilabelba, “Landshapes”
L21 Gallery (Madrid) Álvaro Gil “Brikoexplosión”
La Gran (Valladolid) Marina Nuñez
La New Gallery (Madrid) Simon Arrebola “Itinerancias espirituales”
Mäss (Alemania) Lucía Simón
Moisés Pérez de Albéniz (Madrid) Miren Doiz “See attached file”
My name’s Lolita Art (Madrid) Paco Pomet “Un entrenamiento para futuros cuadros”
Paz y Comedias (Valencia) Manuel Blázquez “Albarim”
Rafael Ortiz (Sevilla) Nico Munuera
Rafael Pérez Hernando (Madrid) Joan Hernández Pijuán
Set Espaid’art (Valencia) Juan Olivares “La sostenida fuga de Olivares hacia el espacio”
Sicart (Barcelona) Eulália Valldosera
Twin Gallery (Madrid) Marla Jacarilla, “Anotaciones para una eiségesis”
Yusto-Giner (Málaga) José Luis Puche “Presente de lo ausente”
Espacio Alexandra (Santander) Sonia Higuera
Espiral (Santander) Juan Carlos López Davis
Estela Docal (Santander) Juan Manuel Fernández-Pinedo
Josedelafuente (Santander) Antonio Díaz Grande
Juan Silió (Santander) Cristina del Campo
Siboney (Santander) Fernando Martín Godoy

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.