Art Madrid'26 – AGENDA FOR SUMMER'19: RECOMMENDATIONS FOR AN AUGUST OF ART- II

We continue our summer agenda for art-contact being another way of recharging batteries. Summer is the ideal time to enjoy culture and art in a more relaxed way, outside the rush of the rest of the year.

MADRID

The Gaviria Palace hosts until September 15th an extraordinary exhibition dedicated to Liu Bolin under the title "The invisible man". This Shandong-born creator started his career in the world of sculpture but soon began to explore the power of photography, performance and installation to channel his artistic concerns. The title of the exhibition refers to the work the author has developed around the mimicry and the gimmicky works in which he seems to merge with the environment. The result is a large format photograph that deceives our senses and forces us to look twice to understand what we are really seeing. Within this line, his series "Migrants" involves other people on the scene and merges them with the beaches and boats that constitute their harsh reality, what proposes a double game between metaphorical invisibility and the real invisibility of this type of human conflicts.

Liu Bolin, "Green food"

GIJÓN

LABoral Center for Art and Industrial Creation presents “Eco-visionarios”, a contemporary creation project carried out in collaboration with other institutions: Bildmuseet of Umeå (Sweden), House of Electronic Arts (HeK) of Basel (Switzerland), MAAT- Museum of Art and Architecture of Lisbon (Portugal), to which Matadero Madrid and the Royal Academy of Arts in London have recently joined. The objective of this initiative, which has already been running for two years, is to analyse from an artistic perspective the environmental challenges that appear the society of our time, taking as a starting point the principles that underlie the activity of each of the institutions involved. Thus, after addressing the issue giving priority to approaches such as the relationship between art and ecology, the emergence of sustainable architecture, or the link between art and technology; LABoral delves into the biosphere-technosphere connection, with transversal works that interrelate art, science, technology and society. To the Gijón program, the activities of the Nave16 of Matadero Madrid add.

BILBAO

The Guggenheim Bilbao welcomes the work of Jenny Holzer under the title "Lo indescriptible." This American author began her career in painting but soon perceived that this medium was insufficient for her artistic purposes. She became then interested in public art and writing. Because language contains the enormous power to transform, to understand multiple messages, to host numerous philosophical and political positions. In the new millennium, Holzer went from the use of others’ texts to her own literary production. The visual and aesthetic game between content and container is constant in her work. The media gets diverse, and the power of speech enhances. Throughout her career, she has resorted to everyday materials with projects that interact directly with the public (messages on posters, wrappers, products ...) and also to more durable works, with headlines and lines engraved in stone, lighted signs and a long etcetera. This exhibition presents an extensive tour of her work, to understand the scope of her messages and participate in the same critical discourse.

Jenny Holzer, "For Bilbao"

MÁLAGA

After the enormous success reaped by this exhibition in Madrid, “An unauthorised exhibition” arrives at La Térmica. It is a selection of works by the controversial Banksy contributed by private collectors. Surrounded still by mystery and anonymity, this urban artist has earned the recognition of critics and the public with transgressive works of a witty message that always pose an open criticism of the established system. Every proposal is a question that challenges the viewer, to rethink the schemes inherited from our society and our capitalist market.

PALMA DE MALLORCA

Plessi's universe takes over Es Baluards this summer. Fabrizio Plessi, an artist who arrived in Palma in 1989 to stay, made the island his place of work, where he took root and built a net of interwoven relationships with his work and his fascination for new disciplines. Captivated by video art since its inception, his passage through Palma on the cusp of his career was a creative impulse of great depth. He mixed the baroque inherited from Italy with spiritualised minimalism that gave him the serenity of the place. His work continually resorts to some fundamental themes, which face life from a humanistic perspective. Essential issues such as time and space, light and object, awareness of sustainability, the vision of the Mediterranean as a cultural link... The exhibition includes a large part of his author books and videos related to their stories, to generate a multisensory visitor experience. Until September 1st.

Fabrizio Plessi, Digital Wall (Acqua 6), 2018

BURGOS

The CAB of Burgos holds two interesting samples with a clear sensory vocation. We start with "PERturbacións", by Christian Villamide (Lugo, 1966). With pieces of painting, sculpture and photography, this project is about the detachment that human beings currently live concerning their natural environment. The spaces previously occupied by natural ecosystems are buried by urban progress. The distance created with respect to a context that should be the closest and most organic gives rise to progressive mechanisation of interactions, a division of spaces, with human interventions that are often forgotten over time.

Kitazu&Gomez, "Anchovy Freak", 2007-2015

On the other hand, we highlight the exhibition ‘Haggish Flash’, of the group formed by Jesús Gómez (Burgos, 1962) and Megumi Kitazu (Tokushima, 1975). Both artists met in Berlin in 2001, and since then they have shared lines of work upon aspects of contemporary everyday life based on their personal experiences. Using a fictitious ice cream brand as a pretext, Kitazu & Gomez address issues such as sexual identity, multiculturalism, the relationship between marketing and art... The collection brings together paintings and installations where they use materials of all kinds and incorporate digital techniques.

 

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.

WELCOME TO ART MADRID'26