For this new edition of Art Madrid'22 the video art platform PROYECTOR, once again under the curatorship of Mario Gutiérrez Cru, proposes a programme that revolves around the concept of loop. During the fair, the ARTMADRID-PROYECTOR'22 stand will allow us to enjoy a proposal by the pioneer of new media art Gary Hill together with a performance on 23 February at 8 pm. On 25 February, the pioneer of Spanish sound art Llorenç Barber will close the fair with a performance at 20:00h.

Pioneers" professional meeting

On the other hand, on Saturday 19 February in the Sala Auditorio El Águila at 12 noon there will be a professional round table organised by PROYECTOR on the concept of "loop" in video art, new media, festivals and media collecting.

We will have Gary Hill (usa), pioneer of new media art; Tom Van Vliet (hol), collector and director since 1982 of WWVF, one of the first video art festivals in the world; Sandra Lischi (ita) director of Ondavideo and INVIDEO, pioneering video art festivals since 1985; as well as the presentation and moderation of Tamara García (spa), specialist in the concept of the loop.

The meeting will be held in English, without translation, and can be watched both in person and virtually via streaming. A video with subtitles will be uploaded afterwards on the fair's channel.

Performance, Llorenç Barber

Screening of international curators

After the professional meeting in the morning, several of these experts will present a historical selection of video art. Tom Van Vliet (hol), collector and director since 1982 of WWVF, one of the first video art festivals worldwide, and Sandra Lischi (ita), director of Ondavideo and INVIDEO, pioneering video art festivals since 1985, will each present a 40-minute curatorial presentation of works from 1978 to 2003.

We will also have a presentation, this time online, by Irit Batsry, also a pioneer of video art and director of Loops.Lisboa and one of the components of the international project LOOPS.Expanded, which is an international network dedicated to exhibiting and investigating the concept and form of the Loop. With the aim of experimenting with decentralized video art / moving image exhibitions, symposiums, talks and masterclasses.

The network, founded in 2019, expands the original Loops.Lisboa initiative that started at the National Museum of Contemporary Art MNAC in Lisbon in 2015. The founders of LOOPS.Expanded are curators and organizations in the field of video art from five different countries: António da Câmara (Duplacena / Festival Temps d'Images, Lisbon - Portugal), Mario Gutiérrez Cru and Araceli López (PROYECTOR, Madrid - Spain); Sandra Lischi (Ondavideo, Milano - Italy); Tom Van Vliet (WWVF, Amsterdam - The Netherlands); Jaqueline Beltrame and Alisson Avila (collective Cine Esquema Novo (Porto Alegre - Brazil) and Irit Batsry and Alisson Avila (Loops. Lisboa / Festival Temps d'Images, Lisbon - Portugal).

Performance, Gary Hill

Also, to close a day dedicated to video art, the artist Lina Jiménez Nampaque will give a live performance at 19:30h in the same Sala El Águila.

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.