Art Madrid'25 – Swab Emerging Art Fair in Barcelona

Imagen promocional de Swab2015

 

65 galleries, 22 countries, more than 100 emerging artists and new programs and disciplines make the eighth edition of Swab the one which consolidates this cool show in continuous search for new values.

 

 

Swab was born in 2006 as an initiative from the private collection Diezy7 Space Art in Barcelona. The art fair holds its 8th edition from 1 to 4 October at the Italian Pavilion of the Fira de Barcelona, ??and has become an annual event of international emerging art, well received by the public and critics. This response is what has encouraged the organization to create new programs in this edition.

 

Obra de Judas Arrieta en SWAB.

 

The General Program 2015 brings together a large number of established galleries and highly regarded in the global market of contemporary art galleries. It also provides an opportunity for a number of newly created galleries to participate in an international art fair.

 

Swab Seed, program curated by David Armengol, sets out a series of separate proposals that have made their way outside the institutions in cities such as Barcelona, ??Madrid and Berlin. The project has a dual registration. On the one hand, it is a physical space of collective presentation of separate spaces (working methods, artists, linked, specific projects), among which are El Palomar (Barcelona), Arts Coming (Barcelona), Me & the curiosity (Barcelona) , La Encantada Gallery (Barcelona), Halfhouse (Barcelona), The Green Parrot (Barcelona), Salón (Madrid) and Junefirst (Berlin). On the other hand, it presents a program of public lectures and round tables entitled Intensity and Survival: artistic practice from the independent. The structure of the talks raises an individual presentation of each of the spaces and a later debate in which they analyzed conditions, needs and common problems.

 


Imagen de SWAB Performance.

 

Swab Performance, curated by Juan Canela, shows specific actions and interventions related with the body, the time, space and action. With the participation of Mercedes Azpilicueta, Elena Bajo, Ely Daou, Alicia Frankovich, Lara Khaldi & Yazan Khalili, and Claudia Pages.


Swab Forum, in collaboration with De Appel Arts Centre (Amsterdam), presents a new program through which two former alumni of the Curatorial Programme of the Dutch center have selected different artists thet will dialogue with each other and work programs of the different galleries.


Swab Thinks is a space for reflection on emerging art with lectures, panel discussions, dialogues among collectors, to think together the transformations of the contemporary.


 


Imagen de SOLO Swab.

 

In SOLO Swab, curated by Direlia Lazo and Carolina Ariza, individual projects of Latin American artists are presented, with emphasis on the procedural practices and creative documentaries confronted with the official story. There are new programs as Swab 'Zh?ngguó: China's new photography' and Swab Drawing Applications, curated by Monica Alvarez Careaga. A bunch of eight individual artistic projects that show the transformation in the use of traditional drawing forms. The participating artists are Paula Rubio Infante, Laura González Cabrera, Cristina Ferrandez, Luis Macias, Juan Escudero, Theo Firmo, Gómez-Bueno and Gonzalo Elvira.

 

Imagen de Swab ‘Zh?ngguó: la nueva fotografía china’ 

 

 

At the most recent edition of Art Madrid, artist Luis Olaso (Bilbao, 1986), represented by Kur Art Gallery (San Sebastián), received the Residency Prize of the Art Madrid Patronage Program. This award, the result of a collaboration between Art Madrid, DOM Art Residence, and the Italian association ExtrArtis, enabled him to undertake an artistic residency in Sorrento (Italy) in August 2025.

Through initiatives like this, the fair reaffirms its support for contemporary creation—a commitment aimed at increasing artists’ visibility and strengthening art collecting through concrete actions such as acquisition prizes, recognition of emerging talents, and international residencies.


Artists in Residence. DOM & ExtrArtis. Image courtesy of Agata D’Esposito.


The DOM & ExtrArtis 2025 Residency Program took place in Sorrento from August 1 to 31, 2025. The artists lived together at Relais La Rupe, a 16th-century villa surrounded by cliffs and centuries-old gardens, which became an ideal setting for experimentation and exchange.

In this edition, residents worked around the theme “Reimagining Genius Loci”, an invitation to reflect on how the movement of people and traditions transforms the “spirit of place.” During the residency, DOM organized two public group exhibitions: the first to present the artists’ previous work, and the second to showcase the projects developed in Sorrento.


Work by Luis Olaso. DOM & ExtrArtis. Image courtesy of Agata D’Esposito.


Luis Olaso’s work moves between expressionist figuration and abstraction, always employing a pictorial language charged with strength and emotion. Initially self-taught, he later graduated in Fine Arts and has developed a solid international career, with exhibitions at venues including JD Malat (London) and Makasiini Contemporary (Turku, Finland), and participation in fairs such as Untitled Miami, Estampa, and Art Madrid itself.

His work is part of prestigious collections, including the Tokyo Contemporary Art Foundation, Fundación SIMCO, and the Provincial Council of Bizkaia, and has been recognized in competitions such as the Reina Sofía Prize for Painting and Sculpture and the Ibercaja Young Painting Prize.

In Sorrento, Olaso found a unique context to expand his pictorial research, engaging in dialogue with the Mediterranean landscape and the region’s historical heritage. The residency provided him with time, resources, and a framework for exchange with other international artists, fostering the production of new works that were later presented in the group exhibitions organized by DOM.


Luis Olaso working on his project. DOM & ExtrArtis. Image courtesy of DOM.

Luis Olaso’s experience at DOM Art Residence concluded with a public showcase of the works produced, reinforcing his presence on the international circuit and consolidating his position as one of the most prominent Basque artists on the contemporary scene.


Through initiatives such as this, Art Madrid demonstrates its active role as a platform for direct support of contemporary creation, creating opportunities for research, production, and intercultural dialogue that extend beyond the fair itself and accompany artists in their professional development.