We have everything ready to celebrate the 15th anniversary of Art Madrid! The most festive and dynamic edition is ready to open its doors and celebrate contemporary art in style. Painting, photography, sculpture, video art, performance and artistic meetings make up the most extensive and varied programme of Art Madrid to date.

In this edition, Art Madrid is defined by its open and immersive character. An event full of movement where besides enjoying a wide program of exhibitors with an outstanding international perspective we will have an intensive program dedicated to new media, action art and performance thanks to the collaboration with the video art platform PROYECTOR and under the curatorship of its director, Mario Gutiérrez Cru.

Mario Soria

Mind genius, 2019

Óleo sobre madera y juguetes de plástico

98 x 27cm

Jorg Karg

Surrender, 2017

Printing by pigment under acrylic glass on aluminum dibond

80 x 80cm

This year Art Madrid has incorporated new national and international galleries. With a marked global commitment, Art Madrid counts for the first time with the Parisian Galerie LJ and the Italian Galleria Stefano Forni in Bologna. The German presence also stands out with the incorporation of Urban Spree (Berlin) and Luisa Catucci Gallery (Berlin) and the special Austrian participation of Offspace | galerie panoptikum (Gilgenberg). From the other side of the ocean lands the Ecuadorian gallery Más ARTE Galería (Quito). In the national participation, important exhibitors such as N2 and Pigment Gallery from Barcelona, as well as es.Arte Gallery, from Malaga, representing the south of the peninsula, will make their debut.

Art Madrid continues its commitment to national galleries that have already shown great weight at the fair and that could not be missed with their new proposals for this 15th edition: Madrid's Galería Kreisler, Marita Segovia, Soraya Cartategui, Galería BAT Alberto Cornejo and Galería Hispánica Contemporánea. From Asturias, Aurora Vigil-Escalera (Gijón), Bea Villamarín (Gijón) and Arancha Osoro (Oviedo). Luisa Pita (Santiago de Compostela) and Moret Art (A Coruña) in Galicia and Espiral Gallery (Noja, Cantabria) in the north of Spain, Kurt Art Gallery (Guipúzcoa) and Rodrigo Juarranz (Aranda de Duero, Burgos). From Barcelona 3 Punts, Miquel Alzueta, Víctor Lope Arte Contemporáneo and Zielinsky, as well as from Valencia the new proposals of Alba Cabrera Gallery and Shiras Galería.

Mari Quiñonero

No.130, 2018

Pastel sobre papel

60 x 42cm

Onay Rosquet

Tuesday, 2018

Oil on canvas

80 x 80cm

The Portuguese galleries Art Lounge (Lisbon), Paulo Nunes-Arte Contemporânea (Vila Franca de Xira), Galeria São Mamede (Lisbon/Oporto) and Nuno Sacramento (Ílhavo) stand out in the representation of foreign galleries renewing their participation in Art Madrid. From Germany he returns to Schmalfuss (Berlin) and the French Galerie Norty (Carrières-sur-Seine). And the Taiwanese Yiri Arts (Taipei) and the Cuban Collage Habana (Havana) could not miss this 15th anniversary celebration.

In such a special edition, Art Madrid has decided to redefine and expand the curatorial program One Project to transform it into a place of friction and artistic stimulus. Under the title "Salvajes. La cage aux fauves" and under the curatorship of Fernando Gómez de la Cuesta, One Project will consist of the work of 9 artists who work on contemporary creation from different perspectives, presenting new and specific projects for the fair. One Project will be formed by ATC Gallery from Santa Cruz de Tenerife representing Nicolás Laiz and Alona Harpaz; Kaplan Projects from Palma, with the artists Juan Carlos Batista and Santiago Palenzuela; MA Arte Contemporáneo also from Palma, with the work of Andrés Planas, and Plastic Murs from Valencia, with the work of Pichiavo and Julio Anaya and DDR Art Gallery from Madrid, on this occasion with the new sculpture by Roberto López and the painting by Virginia Rivas.

Juan Carlos Batista

Psicopaisaje II, 2015

Impresión digital en papel de algodón

60 x 77cm

PichiAvo

Bristol Poseidon, 2019

Mixed media on canvas

120 x 160cm

As the curator explains, the programme activates "research on the market and fairs as institutions that legitimise professional careers in the art world, but also on fashions, trends and mainstreams, focusing on those resilient artists who choose to travel along paths far removed from them". A space for the most risky and latest artistic proposals.

Another of the great novelties of this edition is the specific programme dedicated to video art and action art. Together with the video art platform PROYECTOR and with the curatorship of Mario Gutiérrez Cru, at the beginning of each day of the fair the public will be able to enjoy the best selection of video art pieces from the most outstanding international festivals around the world to continue with a direct immersion in art through the presentations and meetings with an artist every afternoon at 5pm. Abelardo Gil-Fournier, Fernando Baena, Mario Santamaría and Maia Navas will be the protagonists of this space.

And the best is always at the end, offering the audience a unique and unforgettable experience: attending live audiovisual performances by internationally renowned artists. Iván Puñal, Eunice Artur with Bruno Gonçalves, Arturo Moya with Ruth Abellán and Olga Diego will look for an intimate and personal connection with the audience at 8pm inside the Crystal Gallery of the Palacio de Cibeles.

In addition, visitors to Art Madrid'20 will be able to see the work of artists Juan Díaz-Faes and Buba Viedma at the stand set up by Yorokobu, which will bring a wide historical selection of the magazine's covers on the occasion of its 10th anniversary.

They will also be able to take a break and enjoy a cocktail thanks to Royal Bliss and its wide range of mixers where there will also be live actions with the participation of five artists who will perform their own version of the painting "The Red Dog" by Gauguin.

And in such a special celebration, the collaboration of Liquitex could not be missed, which will award a prize in materials valued at 1,500 euros to one of the participating artists of Art Madrid who uses acrylic painting as the main medium in their creations. The winner will be decided between the organisation of Liquitex and Art Madrid and on Sunday 1st March there will be a ceremony at the fair to award the prize.

Ultimately, Art Madrid'20 is celebrating its fifteenth year of existence with its most dynamic and moving edition. This is an excellent opportunity to get into the current creation scene, with a wide and varied proposal that highlights its permanent commitment to young creators and the most current forms of creation.

Buying the first work of art always instils respect. A difficult feeling to define that mixes vertigo with adrenaline. But over uncertainty and caution, a pleasurable sense of connection, understanding, and desire prevails. That work that, once seen, stays in the mind, reappears in the memory several times a day and seems to tell you that it is willing to be part of your home, is the perfect candidate to make the decision.

In the first steps, many collectors do point out that one does not start from an established plan, but rather that one acquires pieces based on taste and the connection one feels with them until, after time, they realise that the volume of works that accumulates can be labelled as a "collection". For example, this is how Alicia Aza explains it:

“I was not aware that I was collecting until many years later when a third party named me as a collector and talked about my collection. In 2005, I became aware of what collecting means and decided to articulate a collection with an identity of criteria and formats”.

Marcos Martín Blanco, co-founder, with his wife Elena Rueda, of the MER Collection, shares this same opinion:

“Collecting has been a passion, driven by a visceral state that encourages you to do so. The collection, in terms of acquisitions, has not been particularly complicated because, let's face it: it is easy to buy because they are all beautiful things and you have some clear idea of where you want to go, but at first those preferences were not so clear. It is with the time that a criterion is being formed”.

It is not always this way, of course, but for the buyer who starts out on this path, the personal connection that entails the first piece is essential. There it is the germ of a lasting relationship that is not limited to a simple aesthetic question but is an open window to knowledge, to exploration, to a world that is often unknown to us and awakens our fascination. The seed of that connection is purely sentimental, and it is precisely this impulse that determines the first acquisitions. The first piece is never forgotten.

Art Madrid'20, photo by Ana Maqueda

Exceeding the usual recommendations made by advisers and agents, rare is the occasion when the art lover decides to buy by pure investment. These paths usually open later, when the volume of pieces is large enough. In addition, there are those who are a bit against this classic concept of the traditional collector, approached from an eccentric, elitist and little accessible vision. On the contrary, art buyers are, above all, art lovers, sentient beings and permeable to creative stimulus who, at a given moment, decide to deepen the relationship they already have with art to take a piece home.

It is not that hard to overcome that small psychological barrier that turns the visitor into a buyer if one approaches the matter from a more personal and intimate perspective than from social consideration. Small-format works, graphic work or serial photography are of great help for this, whose price range, generally more affordable, allows a closer comparison to the daily basis expenses. In this way, the purchase of art falls within the range of feasible activities and becomes something close and possible.

Art Madrid'20, photo by Marc Cisneros

At that moment, a different relationship with art begins, based on pure experience and coexistence with the acquired piece. Perhaps it can be seen as an act of daring, but on many occasions, it is more a matter of necessity and transformation. Collectors also agree that the acquisition of an artwork is an exercise on personal analysis and opening up to a new field of knowledge that was previously alien to us. Alicia Aza explains that the reason she acquired her first piece of video art, by Sergio Prego, is because she did not understand it and because she saw it as a challenge and an opportunity to self-improve. This open window to knowledge creates new connections and bonds with creators, as one of the most fascinating parts of the process. Candela Álvarez Soldevilla explains that

"I think the most interesting thing in the art world is talking to artists. They are people with a special sensitivity to listen and understand.”

And Alicia Aza also says:

"I can share the satisfaction of being able to count on many artists in my circle of close friends today, and that is a long way to go."

Thus, with works that seem acceptable within the horizon of expenses that each one considers affordable, it is easy to find a piece that catches us. Since then, our home also evolves into a space in which art has a permanent place and presence, and there is no doubt that this transforms us inside.

Art Madrid'20, photo by Henar Herguera

Jaime Sordo, owner of Los Bragales collection and founder of the 9915 Contemporary Art Collectors Association, has always defined his relationship with art as a true passion and a vital necessity. For buyers who start on this path, he has the following recommendation:

“It is an essential condition that they feel the need to live with their passion to enjoy the works. Another very important aspect is that before making decisions for purchases, they are informed, so it is necessary to read specialised newspapers and books, visit exhibitions and museums and a lot of contact with galleries, which is an important and very specific source of information of the artists they represent. Finally, the presence in national and international art fairs. All this generates information and training.”

Indeed, fairs have become a good place for discovery because they condense a wide offer and allow diverse and global contact in a concentrated way. For this reason, many new generation buyers start in the context of an event such as Art Madrid, whose closeness and quality constitute a unique opportunity to meet, soak up and feed the passion for art.

(*) quotes taken from various interviews published in public media between 2013 and 2019.