Art Madrid'25 – Theo Jansen. Amazing Creatures at Fundación Telefónica

 

 

"The sea does nothing but rise, and this threatens to push the limits of our land to where they were in the Middle Ages. And we all know that in that tiny bit that we will shortly be able to do. Therefore, the big question is: how to get more grains of sand dunes to our? It would be great if we had some animals removieran sand of our beaches, thrown into the air, so that then the wind to take care of the dunes. "  With these words, Theo Jansen (1948, Scheveningen) spoke for the first time about his creatures in a newspaper, then were just an engineering project with ecological message and aimed at curbing some of the effects of climate change. However, their Strandbeest, the beach beasts, began to have life beyond the hands of its creator.

 

 

 

Theo Jansen's kinetic sculptures are made of plastic tubes of electrical installations, rods, bottles ... industrial materials that take the rudimentary form of giant skeletons and runs thanks to the wind that blows along the Dutch beaches. These beings walking on the sand, evolve in generations and die after just a year, becoming fossil of the postmodern era. Jansen, who trained as an engineer and scientist at the Technical University of Delft, was fascinated with the book "The Blind Watchmaker" by British zoologist Richard Dawkins, the theory of evolution and natural selection of species, and he decided to create creatures increasingly self-sufficient and autonomous, able to survive and remain in their habitat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now, at Telefónica Foundation Space, the exhibition Theo Jansen. Amazing creatures, displays 13 of his 40 living and fossil creations, with evocative names such as Ordis, Currens Vaporis, Currens Ventosa, Rhinoceros Tabulae or Percipiere Primus ...

 

 

 

 

"The barriers between art and engineering exist only in our mind," says Jansen. But Jansen's are more than kinetic sculptures that provide aesthetic experiences through movement. The Strandbeest born of a creative process that combines mathematics (Theo Jansen calculated thirteen "sacred numbers" 25 years ago with an Atari computer that indicate the length of the tubes that make up the legs and define the peculiar gait of animals beach), ecology (the contact with nature and materials carries Jansen to invent each animal) and biological evolution (creatures born in a wooden case in October, their first steps in winter, in spring they run free on the beach and at the end of the summer, the creature expires). The aim of this thought process: create faster, more complex and more autonomous creatures. Today, Theo Jansen works (since 2006) in "Cerebrum", a creature with an antenna and pedometer that will allow you to avoid obstacles and remain away from water.

 

 

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.