Art Madrid'25 – ART AND FRESH AIR FROM LEVANTE TO ART MADRID\'17

Calo Carratalá. Jungle Study 1. Pencil composed on paper. 122 x 181 cm. 2016

 

 

The Alba Cabrera gallery began its activity in 1987, and since then has been holding temporary exhibitions and participating in national and international fairs, with the clear objective of promoting and publicizing the work of its artists. In recent years it has focused mainly on the diffusion and promotion of young values, without neglecting the exhibition of its most consecrated artists. Victoria Santesmases, José Juan Gimeno, Cristina Alabau and Calo Carratalá.

 

Among the artists that will be exhibiting at the Alba Cabrera gallery stand, the novelty of Art Madrid Cristina Alabau and Calo Carratalá stands out as the first interlacing of the natural and abstract, Mediterranean light takes on the most prominence. While, Carratalá bets on more suffering and neutral works. Two very new bets in this edition.

 

 

Juan Uslé. Submerged Word. Vinyl, dispersion and pigments on canvas. 198 x 112 cm. 1993

 

 

The Benlliure Gallery was founded in 1984 and has been developing its activity towards a quality line in preference to consolidated values, without leaving aside young artists living with the School of Paris, Grupo El Paso, historical avant-gardes, Spanish landscaping Of the 20th century and modern and contemporary artists. They participate in our fair with works by Fernando Zóbel, Rafael Canogar, Esteban Vicente, Juan Uslé and Carmen Calvo.

 

Carmen calvo, an experienced artist in the field of contemporary conceptualization of the fragment and Juan Uslé who bets on a practically abstract painting with figurative resonances that starts from a specific motive: the maritime and romantic landscape of shipwrecks or mythical voyages. They are two of the strongest proposals of this gallery.

 

 

Angel Mateo Charris. The question. Oil on canvas. 75 x 150 cm. 2013

 

 

The La Aurora Gallery, in Murcia, opened its doors in 1994 and works with over 350 artists, making a total of 7,000 works of art, eminently original graphic work of some of the great names of art such as Picasso, Dalí, In Art Madrid 17 we can enjoy a proposal made up of the artists Ángel Haro, Ángel Mateo Charris, Gonzalo Sicre, and Marcos Salvador Romera.

 

Gonzalo Sicre, in particular is one of the most interesting figurative artists in Spain. Together with Ángel Mateo Charris, previously mentioned, Joel Mestre and Dis Berlin, formed the collective The Dock of Levante in the early 90's.

 

 

Andrés Ferre. Gynaika II-020. Photography, technique of the artist. 131 x 98.26 cm. 2013

 

 

Galería Leúcade, founded in 2013 has wanted to innovate the art world in Murcia and offers diverse styles within contemporary art, cultural activities and workshops with new artists, helping them to make their way in the artistic world. It is a living space in which you can enjoy the art every week in a different way than usual and there are those who have compared it with The Factory, since it is a meeting place for many artists of all disciplines, in addition Of being used as space of creation for some of them. Lucas Brox, Andrés Ferre, Óscar FERRENAVARRO, Celia Reche and Jean Carlos Puerto are the artists with whom they participate in our fair.

 

One of the main characteristics of the Leúcade gallery is its commitment to local art, since all its artists are from Murcia. Although there is no direct thread between them, eclecticism and variety are strong.

 

 

 

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.