Art Madrid’20 turns this edition into a celebration of the latest and more dynamic contemporary art. On the occasion of the 15th anniversary, we have prepared an intense program of activities program of activities since February 12th and that extends during the five days of the fair. In collaboration with the video art platform PROYECTOR and under the curatorship of its director Mario Gutiérrez Cru, the program also has the MediaLab Prado and Sala Alcalá 31 spaces.

As a newness and on the occasion of this very festive edition, Art Madrid will have this year its own stand dedicated exclusively to video-creation, action art and performance. An immersive experience in the most complete artistic paradigm.

The program of activities will begin next February 12th in Medialab Prado with the masterclass (from 17:30 to 20:30) of Patxi Araújo under the title of All Prophets are Wrong. The artist will share his creative experience, the paths explored in communication and his production process incorporating technology without losing the burden of speech.Then as an opening the interactive work of Patxi, Sherezade will be projected on the facade of MediaLab Prado. This work proposes a game with the public through the random generation of sentences and phrases according to the position of the spectator in the front square of the facade.

During the next two days, the master classes of Olga Diego will be held in this space with El vuelo como materia viva and Lois Patiño with Tiempo e imagen. Olga Diego stages a practical, unique and exclusive meeting for the public: work on the construction of the concepts of Flight, Art and Action through the installation that will be part of his performance at the fair. An intimate experience between the artist, creation and the audience.

To close this cycle of masterclasses Lois Patiño proposes an approach to video art and feature film through his work and the treatment that is made of these universals, reflecting on time, image and contemplative experience.

Olga Diego, "The bubble woman show". Photo: Carolina Diego

For its part, the auditorium of Sala Alcalá 31, will host on Thursday 20th the meeting with professionals De la imagen fija al New Media . They will discuss the evolution of the image in contemporary culture and the impact it currently has for the creators and the society that enjoys and consumes it. The experts will make a tour of the still image, the video art or moving image and its multiple visions until reaching the new media. Rafael Doctor, historian, independent curator and cultural manager, critic and curator Karin Ohlenschläger, today director of activities of Laboral Centro de Arte y Industrial Creación, and Berta Sichel, cultural agent and curator who today directs Bureauphi Art Agency, all moderated by Miguel Álvarez-Fernández.

Finally, in this cycle of previous activities, Art Madrid organizes on Saturday, February 22nd, a visit to the artist Eduardo Balanza's workshop, in which we will have the opportunity to know his creative space and approach one of his last pieces “B71”, which combines sound and technology with an impressive result. B71 organ is an instrument that works activated by vibrating speakers on plates capable of connecting to meteorological data websites, works in manual and automatic mode, generating its own sounds. The visit will also end with performance in petit committee.

Eduardo Balanza, "B71"

Art Madrid wants to accommodate less visible artistic disciplines that, however, house some of the most groundbreaking and contemporary languages. An own stand inside the fair, from February 26th to March 1st, will be dedicated to moving image and contact with more ephemeral manifestations such as installation or performance.

Every day at the fair, we will enter the video art thanks to the screenings of a selection of award-winning pieces and finalists from the main international festivals dedicated to the moving images. Mario Gutiérrez Cru presents an international tour of Argentina, Colombia, France, Greece, Mexico, the Netherlands, Morocco, Peru and Portugal.

Among its goals, this programming is to promote dialogue and understanding of the new working methods that the authors follow in the field of video creation and the action art. For this, every afternoon at 5:00 p.m. we will attend the presentation and meeting with an outstanding artist from the field of video creation: Abelardo Gil-Fournier, Fernando Baena, Mario Santamaría y Maia Navas will star in this space where he will introduce his work and then proceed to the visualization of a selection of his most recent work on the screen.

To end this art festival, we will have an exclusive experience every evening at 8:00 p.m: live audiovisual performances by artists with great international recognition. Iván Puñal, Olga de Diego, Eunice Artur con Bruno Gonçalves y Arturo Moya con Ruth Abellán.

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.