Art Madrid'23 – Donostiartean, new Contemporary Art Fair at the Kursaal in San Sebastián

A new art fair in San Sebastián comes with two clear objectives: to boost the national and international contemporary art and establish itself as a model of fair benchmark. The first edition of San Sebastian Artean take place from 7 to 11 August in the representative of the Kursaal Congress Palace, architectural work of Rafael Moneo. 

 

The DonostiArtean organizing team is led by Scarpellini family, Marta and Ignacio, directors of Gaudi Madrid Gallery. They point out that the fair has been created under four pillars: rigor, professionalism, quality and closeness, and to be established as a fresh, dynamic and high-quality fair. To reinforce this idea, it has an Advisory Committee consisting of professionals in the cultural and artistic world: Iñigo Arístegui (designer and sculptor), Cristina Beloqui (Director of Art and Heritage Kutxa Fundazioa), Javier Diaz Guardiola (Cultural Journalist ABC) Juan Martinez Barefoot (gallery), Aitor Mendizabal (sculptor) and Ane Rodríguez (Cultural Director Tabakalera). 

 
The fair has two distinct sections: one for art galleries and one for artist books. Thirty-four exhibitors make up the program of art galleries, two of which are foreigners; Deux Gallery (South Korea) and Leizorovici Galerie (Paris). Seven basque galleries participate in the fair: Adn Project, Argucho Iruretagoyena, Arkupe, Arteztu, Gure Gazteluak Cultural Association, Conde Rodezno, The Study and Ispilu Art. Eight galleries travels from Madrid to San Sebastian: Eka Art Gallery, Lorenart, Montsequi, Draft Inn, Quorum, Ruizanglada, Arrow and Gaudí. Catalonia also have a presence at the show with six galleries from Barcelona: Crisolart, Conde Rodezno, Limited Editions Gallery, Legaxart, Espai Lluis Ribas and Sky Art Gallery. Other regions will also be represented: Javier Román (Málaga), Lorenzo Colomo (Valladolid ) 6 and C6 Cervantes Gallery (Oviedo), Pillars (Cuenca), Rodrigo Juarranz (Aranda del Duero), Fortuarte.es (Cuenca), Valentin Kovatchev (Málaga), Van Dyck (Gijón), Spiral (Cantabria), Marmurán (Alcázar de San Juan, Ciudad Real). 
 
In the Artist Books section there will be seven exhibitors: Books Bosch (Madrid) Art Baubles (Mérida), Fotolito Books (Madrid), Red Fox Books (Barcelona), Liya Huang (Madrid), Point Paper (Murcia) and terraz (Madrid). 
 

The performer Abel Azcona will perform in the opening ceremony of DonostiArtean with the show "Reminiscence, The art of memory", in which Abel proposes a performance based on their life experiences, given that arises, with the words of the artist "from memory and exploration of their own and the others ghosts". To receive the public, the sculptor Iñigo Aristegui has placed a large format work at the entrance of the complex, and the dancer and choreographer Mikel Aristegui will be starring in a show of contemporary dance around this. In addition, the actor and filmmaker Jordi Molla is the guest artist of the first edition of DonostiArtean. To complement the exhibition, visitors can enjoy Bideak (Roads), an exhibition at the Kursaal Kutxa comprising 130 works by Eduardo Chillida. 

DonostiArtean it bets for the reinforce of contemporary art and the revitalization of the Spanish and foreign art market. Some of the exhibitors interviewed by the organizers have the belief that will be very positive to promote new values between artists, a meeting place for professionals, and why not, a space to encourage new collectors. 
 
San Sebastian is filled with art and culture for five days with a fresh and dynamic event, in which you can enjoy various artistic actions that will not leave you indifferent.

 

Fight of Giants relies on figurative art and the character of the Pink Panther to reclaim the democratic genetics of Pop Art and its proximity to the audience, characteristics of an artistic movement inspired by the aesthetics of everyday life and consumer goods of the time. As a "happening" in the heart of the city of Madrid, Fight of Giants advocates for artistic creation in a context where the aesthetic experience is more exciting and better understood by all audiences.

Sixty years ago, Blake Edwards released in Technicolor one of the most unique feature films of the time, which would not only become part of American culture but also the international comedy universe: "The Pink Panther", whose original title was translated into Spanish as "La Pantera Rosa."

Jaime Sancorlo. Desert Patrol, 2023

In 1963, this comedy-thriller entered the bloodstream of the emerging Pop movement in a New York City experiencing the birth of the "Factory" and the rise of Truman Capote. Just like previous editions of this informal field called Battle of Giants (a "non-gallery," a "non-museum," something more than an exhibition, as defined by its creators Gabriel Suarez and Aleix Gordo), The Pink Panther reappears this time as a timeless character capable of questioning and reclaiming the present through its staging.

Sandra Rojo Picón. No9. Blue Pink, 2023

After obtaining the copyright for its reproduction directly from MGM, the commemoration of the character's sixtieth anniversary brings together thirty giant artists who, struggling together, will visually reflect on their socio-cultural present, their artistic and visual context, and their work, around the figure of the iconic pink character. At the same time, the proposal promotes the revision of the context of art itself, wanting to establish new places for the shared experience between the work of art and the observer, going beyond the apathy of the white cubes or those artistic spaces of restricted access belonging to the past.

Illan Argüello. Más chula que el 8, 2023

In this way and demonstrating the bitter heritage typical of British comedy or "pop art", the film was connected to the impulses of the new artistic exploration that was emerging in the streets of the Big Apple, far from the chromatic and gestural abstraction that had occupied the art scene during the previous decade, with figures such as Mark Rothko, Barnet Newman, Willem de Kooning or Jackson Pollock, and which had also moved away from the gaze of the general public. The New York cultural scene was now moving forward in the hands of the film director towards other paths closer to mass culture and its daily life through humor. In his first solo appearance in the Pink Phink chapter, the Pink Panther establishes a colorful battle against the traditional hegemony of the color blue, using all kinds of tricks and strategies to dye the world with his favorite color. In only six minutes in which we could see pictorial inheritances coming from the chromatic universe of Rothko and other abstract creators, the character is introduced in the culture of the politically incorrect.

Iker Serrano. Space Action Panther,2023

The Pink Panther represents irony, discontent or cynicism, clichés of what we know as "British sense of humor" and will always act, throughout all the short films, as a timeless critic, as an inter-generational and individual being capable of conversing with the general public, regardless of their origin, culture or age.

Mario Soria. Pink Biker,2023

Under the apparent atmosphere of humor and comedy of the new interpretations made by the thirty selected giants, there is a world of diverse readings and messages to be discovered, which will be unveiled by the other fundamental agent of any artistic process: the audience.

Fight of Giants gathers this time thirty individual visions for a collective and close reconstruction of its present, where the general public has been invited to participate with total freedom in this exciting process.

From May 25th to 28th. From 11h to 20h.

📍Hotel ONLY You Barquillo.

C/ del Barquillo, 21. Madrid.