Art Madrid'25 – ART PHOTO BCN AGAINST THE TRAFFIC OF TALENTS

 

 

With more than 2000 participants, among them 100 photographers, 12 galleries and 6 specialized schools, the IV Edition of this festival bets on a reinforcement of the artist's vision denouncing the talent flight that is suffering today. Powered by Art Deal Project, an art agency led by Isabel Lázaro, curator, art historian and gallery owner, this meeting has been consolidated thanks to the emerging photography show.

 

 

 

 

Art Photo BCN is defined as an artistic showcase and inflection point, in which all the professionals of the sector contribute their particular granite of sand. The festival has a large selection committee composed of Gonzalo Golpe (independent editor), Moritz Neumüller (curator of Art), Semiramis González (art curator), Jesús Micó (director of Kursala, UCA), Simona Rota ), Isabel Lázaro (Art Photo Bcn), Stefano Marchei (Art Photo Bcn) and Ariadna Serra (designer). As well as, visioners that bring the extra quality to an event of these characteristics. Eliza Norandi (curator and director of the MAV Festival in Catalonia), Erika Bornay (UB), Angel Samblancat (Marchante), Flor Vacherand (CC Pati. Llimona), Ada Sbricolli and Arola Valls (CFD Barcelona), Carmen Dalmau (Zero Gallery - EFTI), Roger Batista and Xavier Frances (COPIA), Alejandro Maureira (NEXO PHOTO) and Gustavo Alemán (Fuego Books).

 

 

 

Thanks to the collaboration of these professionals, a series of prizes will be awarded according to the relevant category, these are:

 

ART PHOTO BCN PRIZE Image and exhibition space at the next edition of the Art Photo Bcn festival
CFD PRIZE Exhibition
CENTER CIVIC PATI LLIMONA PRIZE Exhibition
EFTI AWARD Training grant at EFTI. International Center of Photography and Cinema. Madrid
COPIES WALL AWARD Production and exhibition
IDEP PRIZE Scholarship for IDEP training to study the Postgraduate of Contemporary Art Photography during the 2017-18 academic year

 

Photographers and projects:
- Gema Polanco, As God Rules
- Bárbara Traver, Portrait
- Oriol Miñarro, LÓBULO OCCIPITAL
- Leafhopper - Blanca Galindo & David Simon Martret, It's a wonderful life
- Antonio González Caro, Hunting shadows
- Fernando García Berdeja, First fiction: divergences
- José Luis Carrillo, The children of the deer
- Tiago Casanova, Uncover

 

 

 

 

There will also be a series of activities including Workshop, Scenic Photography, and Workshop The goal is the way. Masterclass, The curious world of the photobook. Facilities, Relationships and Dependencies, photography and installation by Lola Guerrera. Round table with, Phenomenon photolibro, Protagonists and processes. With the participation of: Jon Uriarte, Toni Amengual, Alberto Salván (Three Graphic Types), among others and the course taught by Abel Azcona, Visual Empowerment: from the body to the image. For more information info@artphotobcn.com

 

 

 

 

 

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.