The Canal Foundation opens an exhibition dedicated to the Lichtenstein posters on Thursday, October 4th. The designer facet of this artist has made him a global icon in the field of posters. In this showing, there will be a total of 76 pieces, many of them travelling to our country for the first time.

Roy Lichtenstein, “Crying Girl”, 1963

American Pop Art identifies with the work of three paradigmatic creators: Robert Indiana, Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein, although each of them developed a unique and personal style that allows distinguishing their work within the pop movement. If Warhol opted to exploit the figure of the media-icons of the moment with techniques based on mass reproduction and copy-interventions, Lichtenstein focused on comics and the exploration of a likewise iconographic aesthetic, albeit starting with characters in vignettes. His plastic composition, closer to the printed images of newspapers and magazines, became a reference of this artistic style, based on the strong contrast of colours, the figures outlined on dotted backgrounds and the use of motifs connected with advertising and graphic novel.

Roy Lichtenstein, “M-Maybe”, 1965

His work, in fact, drinks from the trend of mass production where the importance of the single piece, a symbol of a period already surpassed in the history of art, is left aside, to focus on gaining visibility through infinite copies. This approach to artistic creation is only a sign of the moment, a time when factories and industry reach the peak of their productivity and need a public, avid of objects to feel part of a hyper-consumer society.

Roy Lichtenstein, “Sunrise”, 1965

Paradoxically, the motifs chosen by Lichtenstein for his multiple copies ironise on the inherited standards of a society already transformed, but that resists change by imposing clichés and stereotypes. His pieces of women with kitchen tools, trapped in the inertia of everyday life, or the faces of young ladies in distress, with a standardised beauty representative of the pin-up canons still present in the comics, collide with the changing course of times where individualism gains prominence against the homogenisation of tastes and patterns of consumption. Feeling unique in the magma of globalisation, in a moment of artistic awakening in which such a concept had not even been named, is an almost visionary position that Lichtenstein manages to convey without falling into the drama or losing the freshness and visual force of his creative proposal.

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.