Art Madrid'25 – Jean-Michel Basquiat in Guggenheim Museum Bilbao

With an Haitian father and mother from Puerto Rico, Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960-1988) always defended its origins in the streets of Brooklyn, where he was born and raised, marking their facades, underground hydrants, their cars, walls, Dumpsters with paintings. He just turned 18, when he signed as SAMO (Same old shit, "the same old shit") and stood among teenagers in the neighborhood for his intellectual and artistic skills, skills that transformed their graffiti on allegations against social inequalities, by the defense of disadvantaged minorities, true graphic files on the harshness of the time in that city.
Panel de expertos, 1982.
 
 
His first solo exhibition, at age 21, showed those same lines, colors, this young and gifted nerve in dozens of large paintings, objects, papers, being the first graffiti artist (... with Keith Haring) on ??exhibit in a gallery Art, opening new doors to Fine Arts and all contemporary art. The show was a success and all the pieces were sold.
 
In 1982 he participated in Documenta VII and the Whitney Biennial and was in those years when the clever Andy Warlhol adopted him as fetish and they became inseparable, they portrayed each other and signed a friendship / admiration that transcends both. Basquiat's reputation grew as they performed exhibitions in North America and Europe; soon he became a prolific artist and media personality in the cultural field.
Andy Warhol y Basquiat.
 
 
Jean-Michel Basquiat: Now is the time, is an exhibition organized by the Art Gallery of Ontario in partnership with the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, explores some of the most important issues of the innovative work of Basquiat over a hundred paintings and drawings by the artist, ordered for the first time from a thematic perspective.
 
The exhibition is articulated in 8 sections: The street as a studio, Heroes and saints (homage to the "black man"), Claiming stories, Reflex (dedicated to racist episodes of his time, slavery), Dualities and double identity, Playing to cheat: drawings and provocations, a seventh section with collaborations with Warhol, Francesco Clemente, Keith Haring and Kenny Scharf, and finally, Sampling and scratching. Music, words and collage, their sources of inspiration.

Moises y los egipcios, 1982.

 

His artistic perspective, in which Basquiat fit their entire universe, African-American history, his musical tastes, jazz, street drugs, friends, sports, news, through symbols, text, shapes and images Sometimes seemingly unrelated ... it continues to inspire many current artists and continues to pose to the viewer an invitation to think critically about the world around us.

Los seis de Crimea, 1982.

El hombre de Nápoles, 1982.

 

 

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.