Art Madrid'25 – Apertura starts the art season

 

3 days, 45 galleries and 50 artists participates in APERTURA, the official start of the art season in the capital, from 10 to 12 September.

 

 

 

For art lovers and for ARTE_MADRID, the Association of Art Galleries of Madrid, APERTURA is "the great event of contemporary art of Autumn" with over 50 artists from 45 galleries and participation of large institutions like the Museum Reina Sofia, Thyssen Museum and the Fundación Telefónica.

 

 

 

 

In its sixth edition, APERTURA gathers works of masters such as Yves Klein and Josef Albers, with groundbreaking proposals like those of Karen Knorr, Tomas Vu or Rirkrit Tiravanija. But the big bet of the start of the season is undoubtedly the Spanish contemporary art work from the emerging scene to the more consolidated. So, names like Santiago Ydañez, Santiago Giralda or Yann Leto, live on this days with Gordillo or Pablo Picasso.

 

 

 

These days, the galleries have special schedules, as well as guided tours, meetings with artists and collectors, performances... turning the city into a large museum with all contemporary art disciplines: painting, photography, sculpture... APERTURA has two objectives: to bring the public to contemporary creation and to be a meeting point for the sector.

 

 

 

GALLERIES AND ARTISTS

Álvaro Alcázar (PETER KRAUSKOPF) / Arnés & Röpke (ALEKSANDAR DURAVCEVIC) / Astarté (OLALLA GÓMEZ) / Bacelos (MANUEL EIRÍS) / Bat – Alberto Cornejo (MARC QUINTANA) / Benveniste Contemporary (EDUARDO STUPÍA) / Blanca Berlín (FLOR GARDUÑO) / Blanca Soto Arte (LUIS QUINTERO) / Cámara Oscura (EXPOSICIÓN COLECTIVA) / Casado Santapau (ALEXANDRE ARRECHEA) / Cayón (YVES KLEIN) / Elba Benítez (EXPOSICIÓN COLECTIVA) / Elvira González (SOL LEWITT) / Espacio Valverde (LUIS VASSALLO) / F2 (JOSÉ GUERRERO) / Fernández-Braso SOLEDAD SEVILLA) / Fernando Pradilla (GERMÁN GÓMEZ) / Formatocomodo (SAMUEL LABADIE) / Freijo Gallery (ALAIN ARIASMISSON) / Guillermo de Osma (PABLO PICASSO) / Heinrich Ehrhardt (OTTO ZITKO) / Helga de Alvear ELMGREEN & DRAGSET / Javier López (ALEX KATZ *) / José de la Mano (LUGÁN) / Juana de Aizpuru (PHILIPP FRÖHLICH) / La Caja Negra (MATHIAS GOERITZ) / La New Gallery (SANTIAGO YDÁÑEZ) / Leandro Navarro JUAN CARLOS SAVATER / Maisterravalbuena (ANTONIO BALLESTER MORENO) / Marlborough (LUIS GORDILLO) / Marta Cervera (LEONOR SERRANO RIVAS) / Max Estrella (EUGENIO AMPUDIA) / Michel Soskine, inc. (HORST JANSSEN) / Moisés Pérez de Albéniz (SANTIAGO GIRALDA) / N F Galería (RIRKRIT TIRAVANIJA – TOMAS VU) / NoguerasBlanchard (ALAIN BILTEREYST) / Parra & Romero (PALOMA POLO) / Pilar Serra (JOSEF ALBERS) / Ponce + Robles (AGGTELEK) / Rafael Pérez Hernando (SABINE FINKENAUER) / Sabrina Amrani (UBIK) / Slowtrack (KAREN KNORR) / The Goma (ANA SANTOS) / Travesía Cuatro (GONZALO LEBRIJA) / Utopia Parkway (ALBERTO PINA)
 

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.