Action art is a varied group of techniques or artistic styles that emphasize the creative act of the artist, the action. The term was created by Allan Kaprow, who pointed out the interrelationship between the artist and the viewer at the moment of the artistic creation.

It can be said that the concept of action art was born in the 1920s with Dadaism and Surrealism, in artistic montages such as collage and assemblage. Among the various forms of expression of action art are happening, performance, environment and installation.

In its most festive edition, this year Art Madrid presents its most innovative commitment with a specific programme dedicated to new media and action art. In this 15th edition we will have a booth at the fair for the realization of presentations and live actions in collaboration with the video art platform PROYECTOR and under the curatorship of its director Mario Gutiérrez Cru.

If you come to Art Madrid, you will be able to enjoy the different parts of the programme throughout the day. From the morning onwards, you will be able to view the best selection of pieces from the most outstanding international video art festivals in the world, with proposals from Portugal, Mexico, Morocco, Colombia, Peru, Argentina, France, Greece and the Netherlands. A selection made by Mario Gutiérrez Cru that will present us with new languages of artistic expression in the field of video creation so that we can compose a general idea of the international artistic paradigm of this area.

Then, every afternoon at 5pm we will attend the presentation and meeting with an outstanding artist to end the day of the fair with a performance at 8pm from Wednesday to Saturday. This program seeks to be an immersive experience in contemporary art and explore new languages linked to technology.

Opening the program on Wednesday 26th we will have Abelardo Gil-Fournier, in the presentation we will be able to contemplate the installation of the work "The Quivering of the Reed" and comment it with its creator in the whole of its trajectory. His work revolves around the hybridization between the real and the sensitive, approached from a perspective in which perception, image and material production are fused in a practice based on research into territorial planning and plant growth. His projects are conceived as material operations proposed for an open space between art, nature and politics.

Art Madrid will host at 8pm the performance of Iván Puñal “RRAND 0-82.” The artist Iván Puñal (a.k.a. The Pleasant View) will explore through a live audiovisual performance the concept of "random" and "chaos". Iván Puñal, works with determinism and freedom in his performances questioning how much belongs to the conscious self and how much is a mirage of illusion. To this end, uncontrolled elements will be introduced into the performance using mathematical algorithms, both to generate visual pictures and improvised sound spaces so that the result is "non-repeatable", "uncontrolled" and "non-voluntary". Atonal music within the territory of "musique concretè" or "noise" will accompany the projections, also framing the concept of "all sound is music".

On Thursday 27th, the public will be enjoy an encounter with Fernando Baena, a multidisciplinary artist who cultivates video, photography, installation and performance as means to reach the spectator with greater strength. His works seek to interact by approaching them through the use of common materials, and the use of direct discourses that demonstrate his communicative intention.

Afterwards, a site-specific participatory action will be carried out for the 'Partidura'. A project by Eunice Artur with the collaboration of Bruno Gonçalves. This project is part of the fascinating and vast panorama of the creation of graphic annotations. The evolution of electronic music requires a new system of notations where, among others, we seek to understand the relationship of new phenomena, such as the relationship between sound and plastic manipulation in performance; unpredictability and error as ways of generating non-linear readings and/or new graphic forms of notation.

On Friday 28th, Mario Santamaría will investigate the phenomenon of the contemporary observer, paying attention to two processes that shape him: the representational practices and the apparatuses of vision and mediation. Mario explores areas such as conflict, memory, virtuality and surveillance through tactics such as appropriation, remake and montage.

Two performers each sing inside the other's mouth. This is how the performance that Arturo Moya and Ruth Abellán will give on Friday 28th begins. The sound resulting from the interaction of the two voices in a single cavity, controls live the water produced by the same performers in a video that is projected during the performance. The same sound also governs the appearance of sounds from water recordings. "Danaides' Barrel", a physical and sound exploration that will leave no one indifferent.

And to finish the program of this edition Art Madrid-PROYECTOR, on Saturday 28th we will have two unmissable activities: on the one hand the meeting with the Argentine artist and curator Maia Navas, Bachelor of Arts and Technology, Bachelor of Psychology and Specialist in Creativity and Innovation, who will explore in a direct conversation with the public all these areas, giving way later to the performance of Olga Diego "The bubble woman show". The girl of plastics. The bubble woman. Outside, the audience interprets the movements of those two pairs of legs under the translucent inflatable. Sharing the air, the emptiness, the fragility…

Art Madrid'20 becomes a space for artistic immersion, involving all those who come and let art flood their lives from February 26 to March 1 in the Crystal Gallery of the Palacio de Cibeles.

We are waiting for you!

ART MADRID '26: 21 YEARS OF CONTEMPORARY ART

In 2026, Art Madrid will celebrate its 21st edition, further consolidating its position as a leading contemporary art fair in Spain. From 4 to 8 March, the fair will bring together thirty-five national and international galleries at the Galería de Cristal of the Palacio de Cibeles. Returning to its date during Madrid Art Week, Art Madrid reaffirms its pioneering role by expanding the fair calendar and offering an open and enriching dialogue in which diverse artistic proposals coexist.

Throughout its history, Art Madrid has established itself as a leading presence in the contemporary art scene. It is renowned for its commitment to promoting both emerging and established galleries, and for its dedication to making contemporary art accessible to a diverse range of audiences.

Far from being a fair curated under a single curatorial line, Art Madrid promotes diversity in its offering, respecting the identity of each exhibitor and promoting a plural creative ecosystem that reflects the richness and differences of the current art scene.

Art Madrid '25. Photo by Lucas Amillano

GALLERY PROGRAM: AN ACTIVE MAP OF CONTEMPORARY CREATION

The Gallery Program is at the heart of Art Madrid’26. For this edition, thirty-five national and international galleries will participate in a space that celebrates experimentation, hybrid languages, and the latest artistic production. The selection of proposals constitutes a representative mosaic of the aesthetics, discourses, and contemporary practices that are shaping the present of art in Europe.

The Galería de Cristal of the Palacio de Cibeles will once again be transformed into a dynamic space where the exhibitions interact with each other, inviting the public to explore visual narratives that show the evolution of contemporary languages. Works that experiment with new media, formal investigations that reformulate traditional techniques, pieces that reflect on the links between technology and humanity, and poetic approaches that explore territory, identity, or memory make up a plural, stimulating journey open to multiple interpretations.

Art Madrid also continues to strive to become a platform for discovery, allowing both professionals and visitors to identify new voices and consolidate relationships with artists who are already emerging as leaders within the contemporary cultural landscape.

Art Madrid '25. Photo by Lucas Amillano

NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITORS

Thirty-five galleries are participating in this edition, twenty-seven of which are returning after finding the fair to be a favourable environment in which to strengthen connections, increase visibility and promote their artists' work on an international scene.

Twenty-six of these are Spanish galleries from various regions of the country: 3 Punts Gallery (Barcelona), Alba Cabrera Gallery (Valencia), Aurora Vigil-Escalera (Gijón), CLC ARTE (Valencia), DDR Art Gallery (Madrid), Est_ArtSpace (Madrid), g • gallery (Barcelona), Galería Arancha Osoro (Oviedo), Galería BAT alberto cornejo (Madrid), Galería Beatriz Pereira (Plasencia), Galería Carmen Terreros (Zaragoza), Galería Espiral (Noja), Galería La Mercería (Valencia), Galería Luisa Pita (Santiago de Compostela), Galería María Aguilar (Cadiz), Metro Gallery (Santiago de Compostela), Rodrigo Juarranz Gallery (Aranda de Duero), Sigüenza Gallery (Sigüenza), Gerhardt Braun Gallery (Palma de Mallorca | Madrid), Inéditad Gallery (Barcelona), Kur Art Gallery (San Sebastián), LAVIO (Murcia | Shanghai), Moret Art (A Coruña), Pigment Gallery (Barcelona), Shiras Galería (Valencia) and Uxval Gochez Gallery (Barcelona). This selection of galleries highlights the importance of the Spanish scene and its contribution to the development of the contemporary cultural ecosystem.

Art Madrid '25. Photo by Lucas Amillano

The nine international galleries participating in this edition are: Banditrazos Gallery (Seoul, South Korea), Collage Habana (Havana, Cuba), Galeria São Mamede (Lisbon, Portugal), Galerie ONE (Paris, France), KANT Gallery (Copenhagen, Denmark | Palma de Mallorca, Spain), Loo & Lou Gallery (Paris, France), Nuno Sacramento Arte Contemporânea (Ílhavo, Portugal), Trema Arte Contemporânea (Lisbon, Portugal) and Yiri Arts (Taipei, Taiwan). Their participation broadens the fair's international reach, promoting creative and conceptual exchange between diverse artistic perspectives.

In addition, eight new galleries have been added to the list of exhibitors:

Banditrazos Gallery (Seoul, South Korea), Est_ArtSpace (Madrid, Spain), g • gallery (Barcelona, Spain), Galería Beatriz Pereira (Plasencia, Spain), Galerie ONE (Paris, France), Galería Sigüenza (Sigüenza, Spain), Gerhardt Braun Gallery (Palma de Mallorca | Madrid, Spain) and KANT Gallery (Copenhagen, Denmark | Palma de Mallorca). These additions reinforce Art Madrid's commitment to continuous renewal and openness to spaces that are exploring new approaches to contemporary art.

Art Madrid '25. Photo by Lucas Amillano

PARALLEL PROGRAM: A REFLECTION ON THE ‘SPECIES’ OF SPACES

One of the great attractions of Art Madrid is its Parallel Program, which this time delves into the notions of: ‘Fragments, relationships, and imaginary distances.’ This approach turns the fair into an expanded space, where art, audience, architecture, and memory converge. Thus, the Parallel Program proposes a critical approach to the container of the event itself. Taking as a reference the reading of Species of Spaces by Georges Perec (Perec, Georges. Species of Spaces. Montesinos, 2004), it adopts a marked interest in the everyday, that which usually goes unnoticed, the infra-ordinary, giving each corner of the venue its own narrative value.

Another of the conceptual references of this edition is based on an analysis of Édouard Glissant's Poetics of Relation (Glissant, Édouard. Poetics of Relation; Prologue by Manuel Rebón. - 1st ed. - Bernal: Universidad Nacional de Quilmes, 2017.), which advocates the coexistence of differences and the importance of non-totalizing links, which are extrapolated to the art system, proposing an understanding of it as a network of exchanges and connections that respect the uniqueness of each cultural practice and actor.

‘Imaginary distances,’ understood as subjective journeys and affective cartographies traced by visitors, thus become the conceptual axis that articulates this program. This perspective transforms the Fair into an experience that goes beyond visual contemplation, turning it into a territory that can be collectively reconstructed, without losing sight of the paths travelled by the individuality of each voice.

In this edition, the Parallel Program encourages visitors to engage with the space and its projects, turning contemplation into an opportunity to question and interact with things that might otherwise go unnoticed in everyday life.

Art Madrid '25. Photo by Lucas Amillano

In the preview and during Art Week, Art Madrid'26 offers a range of experiences that allow the public to get closer to the creative process and practices of the participating artists. Among the returning initiatives are the Interview Program, Curated Walkthroughs, the third edition of Open Booth, dedicated to emerging creation, the presentation of Espacio Nebrija, a university project in collaboration with Nebrija University, alongside the fair’s established Performance Cycle.

In addition, the One Shot Collectors Program and the second edition of the Patronage Program are back. These initiatives seek to strengthen the bond between collectors, artists, and the public, promoting ethical, informed, and responsible practices in collecting and patronage.

Art Madrid '25. Photo by Lucas Amillano

Art Madrid'26 has established itself as a dynamic meeting place, where diverse experiences, discourses, and practices converge. Far from being a fair curated under a single curatorial line, Art Madrid promotes diversity as a structuring principle, respecting the identity of each exhibitor and fostering a plural creative ecosystem. This plurality is not merely formal, but translates into a network of practices, languages, and perspectives that reflects the complexity, richness, and tensions of the contemporary art scene, consolidating the fair as a catalyst for cultural relations, an observatory of emerging trends, and an international reference point for the Spanish art scene.