For the second time, Art Madrid presents the online sales campaign Art&Collect: your work in one click . From December 14th to January 5th, the public will have a selection of available artworks by the artists participating in the fair's next edition.

In collaboration with the galleries that make up the general program at Art Madrid'23 and through our online store, we will find more than 40 works worth between 800 and 1,800 euros (VAT included). Art&Collect is a digital initiative that aims to bring the latest contemporary art to all audiences.

The selection includes a sample of the disciplines that we will be able to enjoy in the February 2023 edition and offers us a preview of the artists who will attend the Palacio de Cristal de Cibeles with their galleries. From the revision of classical culture and the history of art in Xurxo Gómez-Chao's photographs, to the "intervened reality" created and documented by David Delgado Ruiz. Painting takes center stage as the most fashionable and present discipline in the current context: Julien Primard takes us into his dream scenes through an aesthetically contemporary filter, while Cristina Gamón floods her abstractions on methacrylate with color.

On the other hand, the work on paper delights us with the delicate and symbolist drawing of Juanjo Martínez Cánovas. The experimentation in the use of materials and techniques is evident in the creation of Francesca Poza from tarlatan or in the use of metal in the realistic buildings of Nicolás Lisardo. The representation of disciplines ends with the marble sculpture expertise of Carlos Andrade or the pop figures of Fidia Falaschetti.

The list of artists in Art&Collect Roger Sanguino (DDR Art Gallery), Costa Gorelov (Dr. Robot Gallery), Kuk Lin (Dr. Robot Gallery), Pepe Puntas (BAT Alberto Cornejo), Elvira Carrasco (Galería La Aurora), Saltâo (Galeria São Mamede), Sofía Areal (Galeria São Mamede), Julien Primard (Galerie LJ), Juanjo Marínez Cánovas (Inéditad), Nicolás Lisardo (Galería Manuel Ojeda), Marc Sparfel (MA Arte contemporáneo), Xurxo Gómez-Chao (MoretArt), Iván Prieto (MoretArt), Diego Benéitez (Rodrigo Juarranz), Jaime Sicilia (Rodrigo Juarranz), Cristina Gamón (Shiras Galería), Horacio Silva (Shiras Galería), Carlos Andrade (Trema arte contemporânea), Carlos Barão (Trema arte contemporânea), Federico Granell (Galería Metro), Stephanie de Malherbe (Uxval Gochez Gallery), Ewa Jaros (Uxval Gochez Gallery), Fidia Falaschetti (Galería Hispánica Contemporánea), KYMC (Galería Hispánica Contemporánea), Alex Pallí Vert (N2 Galería), Laura Nieto (Galería Luisa Pita), Carmen Pastrana (Galería Metro), Francesca Poza (Alba Cabrera), Marta Aguirre (BAT Alberto Cornejo), Perceval Graell (Alba Cabrera).

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.