Art Madrid'26 – Art Madrid closes its ninth edition

The CentroCentro Galería de Cristal had sold-out at various moments of the 9th edition of the Contemporary Art Fair Art Madrid. From its opening on February 19th until its closing, five days later, Art Madrid was visited by over 20,000 people. Both the organizers and the participating galleries have confirmed that an event of this kind, well connected and located in the heart of the city is guarantee of success.

One of the galleries that premiered in the fair is moproo ( Shanghai) whose director Julian Ramirez Rentero greatly appreciates his participation and “the fact of being in the heart of the city that has helped us to have more visibility. I want to highlight the large crowds and the high degree of satisfaction that I received from both our customers and other visitors who have share with me their impressions".

To Marc Decoene, responsible for a gallery in Erolzheim (Germany ), the experience has been more than satisfactory . "It's the first time we participate and it wont be the last. An event like this, with a central location, good times and a perfect organization should be on the TOP of the Spain and Europe list of art fairs".

Good figures not only occurred in audience but also viewed in sales. "We were able to contact many collectors for this moment but, most important, for the future... Sales have exceeded what I expected", said Marc Decoene. Indeed, over 90% of the participating galleries have sold artworks from the first day of the fair.

As Javier Lopez, director of 3Punts in Barcelona, says: "we have noticed that also the public and collectors were more willing to buy". The director of the Valencian Point Gallery, José Ignacio Agrait, also remarks the presence of "true collectors" thanks to a previous work in "trust, communication and good proposals".

Fernando Herencia, chief in Materna&Herencia Gallery, points to the selection of galleries and artists and "the importance that has been given to emerging galleries". "If we bet on this line of renovation and we can be more selective in the selection of galleries, the fair of the future will be very competitive" says Fernando.

Competitive character, good organization and support and communication services to collectors and galleries are the keys with which Art Madrid prepares itself for upcoming issues.

 


ABIERTO INFINITO. LO QUE EL CUERPO RECUERDA. CICLO DE PERFORMANCE X ART MADRID'26


Art Madrid, committed to creating a discursive platform for artists working within the field of performance and action art, presents Abierto Infinito: lo que el cuerpo recuerda, a proposal inspired by Erving Goffman’s ideas in The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life (Amorrortu Editores, Buenos Aires, 1997).

The project unfolds within a theoretical framework that directly engages with these premises, conceiving social interaction as a stage of carefully modulated performances designed to influence others’ perceptions. Goffman argues that individuals deploy both verbal and involuntary expressions to guide the interpretation of their behavior, sustaining roles and façades that define the situation for those who observe.

The body — the first territory of all representation — precedes both word and learned gesture. Human experience, conscious and unconscious alike, is inscribed within it. Abierto Infinito: lo que el cuerpo recuerda departs from this premise: representation inhabits existence itself, and life, understood as a succession of representations, transforms the body into a space of constant negotiation over who we are. In this passage, boundaries blur; the individual opens toward the collective, and the ephemeral acquires symbolic dimension. By inhabiting this interstice, performance simultaneously reveals the fragility of identity and the strength that emerges from encounter with others.


PERFORMANCE: OSCURECER UN PAPEL. BY ROCÍO VALDIVIESO

March 5 | 7:00 PM. Galería de Cristal of the Palacio de Cibeles.


Nocturnality. Installation. Rocío Valdivieso..


Oscurecer un papel forms part of a series of actions in which the artist engages in reading through repetition, memorization, and a measured degree of improvisation. Within this framework, a non-linear mode of reading emerges from a written text that is transformed when spoken aloud, assuming a different form in the act of articulation. The texts stem from an ongoing investigation into materiality, space, the relationships between body and matter, writing, the sculptural, and a sustained interest in the exploration of voice and orality.

The material from which Oscurecer un papel is constructed consists of a collection of purchase receipts the artist has been accumulating over time. The printed text they contain, together with the action of bringing them into proximity with a heat source—thereby activating the thermal paper on which they are produced—generates meanings that revolve around the notions of consumption and wear.


Rocío Valdivieso. Latent Aura. Performance documentation.


ABOUT ROCÍO VALDIVIESO

Rocío Valdivieso is an artist, researcher, and cultural manager. She is currently a PhD candidate in Fine Arts at the Complutense University of Madrid. She holds an MA in Research in Artistic Practices from the University of Castilla–La Mancha (UCLM) and a BA in Fine Arts from the National University of Tucumán, Argentina. She was a Fundación Carolina fellow from 2022 to 2023. She currently co-directs Errática. Laboratory of Processes and Critique in Madrid, alongside Romina Casile.

She was part of the PEEPA 2023 Program at the Centro de Residencias Artísticas, Matadero Madrid. She completed the 2021/22 Artists Program at Universidad Torcuato Di Tella, Buenos Aires, and in 2020 participated in the Intensive Curatorial Program of Proyecto PAC at Galería Gachi Prieto, Buenos Aires. She received the Visual Arts Promotion Award at the 4th Visual Arts Week of the Ente Cultural de Tucumán. She was awarded an AUGM scholarship for an exchange residency at UNESP, São Paulo, Brazil. She also participated in the International Residency Program La Ira de Dios and in the Acéfala Galería Residency for Argentine artists.