Art Madrid presents the interview section by cultural journalist Carlos del Amor. With his careful way of approaching the infinite worlds of creativity, Carlos del Amor reveals the artistic universe of ten creators participating in the 19th edition of Art Madrid. With this action, Art Madrid expands and consolidates its interest in bringing contemporary art closer to the public, this time through the voice of the artists who will be accompanying us during the most important event of Spanish contemporary art.

These conversations on inspiration, visual poetry, artistic commitment, imagined stories and art as a vehicle for the construction of a more fertile and humane society are intertwined in words and forms. The uniqueness of each artist has served as inspiration for Carlos del Amor to construct different ways of discovering what happens around the figure of the artist and his or her practices, in everyday life and also in the national art market.

Artists invited to the interview section: Arte y Palabra. By Carlos del Amor.

Guest Artists. Interview section. Art Madrid'24:

Manu Iranzo. CLC Arte; Nacho Zubelzu. Galería Metro; Carla Effa. Kleur Gallery; Richard García. Galería BAT; Francesca Poza. Galería Alba Cabrera; Alejandro Monge. 3 Punts; Suncityboy. Dr. Robot Gallery; Juan Miguel Quiñones García. Pigment Gallery; Evans Mbugua. OOA Gallery; Daniel Schweitzer. Shiras Gallery.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

The production of Manu Iranzo (Teruel, 1983) moves in that intangible plane that borders the existing frontier between what we think we have seen and what we have really seen. His immaculate precision in drawing reminds us of his origins in design, although, as in the famous riddle, we will never know which came first, drawing or design. What is certain is that in his drawings, the graphite technique goes hand in hand with a sense of timelessness and permanency, as if he wanted to keep all the moments for himself. Nacho Zubelzu (Reinosa, 1966) is an artist who loves nature, lives it and filters it in all his works. The respect and interaction with the environment make Zubelzu's work delicate, deep, virtuous and emotional, because the earth is an emotional experience, but to be excited you have to live it. He does it and he transmits it to us. Carla Effa (Santiago de Chile, 1988) creates on the basis of architecture. Wood in different planes, bright colors, paper, acrylic and repetition provoke that intoxication that has something magical about it, when, for example, a piece of the work suddenly hides and capriciously reappears, surprising the viewer with its own game of masks.

In the work of Richard García (Madrid, 1995) the asphalt jungle seems to be brewing. The color, the recognizable but undefined landscape creates layers of reality in which it would be worthwhile to get lost and then find ourselves, free and relieved of the burden that appearances generate. His work seems to be full of mirrors, mirrors that reflect the infinite details in which we can linger. Francesca Poza (Mataró, 1965) combines the written word with the real or imagined meaning that the yarns she works with have, among their many virtues. One of the most apparently fragile materials in existence, and still the artist presents us with a combination of threads that can become indestructible. It is the triumph of fragility over brute force. Her work is exactly that: poetry, literature and time; creations of beautiful originality, as subtle as they are powerful. Alejandro Monge (Zaragoza, 1988) considers the future to be a place full of questions, but he is not worried, he is rather optimistic. His sculptures are very realistic and yet they have something that separates them from what we know and places them in an alien terrain. They exist, but they are not part of this world, they seem to come from another and they seem to know more than we do about what awaits us. They are the protagonists of the chronicle that has bequeathed their time to posterity. Suncityboy (Tver, Russia, 1984) has invented a world inhabited by characters from fairytales and cultural icons that, despite their initial strangeness, instantly provoke empathy and familiarity. Everyone stops being themselves to enter a new life where humor, irony, acidity and a huge dose of energy renew our view of things, theoretically very seen.

Juan Miguel Quiñones (Cádiz, 1979) is a self-taught artist who sculpts those memories in stone so that neither air nor maturity can take them away. He works and studies with vehemence the materials with which to recreate them, and with the ingenuity that can only be achieved through the control of language and technique, he manages to make everyone who comes across his creations breathe a sigh of nostalgia. The work of Evans Mbugua (Kenya, 1979) is composed of fragments of what he has lived and collected; his entire life in an imaginary suitcase that he has been able to transfer to canvas. Past and present meet in his festive and colorful compositions, celebrating and reminding us that life is in many ways a journey, that time is not linear, and that to define what we will be, we must keep in mind what we have been and not be afraid to build ourselves a little each day. Daniel Schweitzer (Germany, 1988) uses geometry to control the emptiness that surrounds us. Using repetition as a means to reach an unattainable infinity, he is able to make sense of this concept and activate our sensory mechanisms. Schweitzer's works reach the infinity of a perfect fractal in the innumerable sensations that the human eye can have in front of one of his sculptures.

Carlos del Amor.

ABOUT CARLOS DEL AMOR

(Murcia,1976) Journalist, writer, scriptwriter and presenter. With more than 20 years of professional career, he is currently Deputy Head of Culture of RTVE News and presenter of the program "La matemática del espejo". He has a degree in Journalism from the Carlos III University of Madrid and a degree in Library and Information Science from the University of Murcia.

Since the beginning of his professional career, he has always been linked to cultural journalism. He teaches at different Spanish universities and has collaborated with numerous national and international publications. He has received the Vitoria Television Festival Award for his career. His reports have been awarded at festivals such as Cannes and the London Television Festival. He was recently awarded the Premio Ondas Nacional de Televisión in the category of Best Presenter.

Author of the books Retratarte. Cuando cada mirada es una historia (2022), Emocionarte. La doble vida de los cuadros (2020), Confabulación (2017), El año sin verano (2015) and La vida a veces (2013).

ABOUT SAFE CREATIVE

Arte y Palabra. Conversations with Carlos del Amor with the collaboration of Safe Creative.

Safe Creative allies with artists on the Internet to protect their rights. Today, with Generative Artificial Intelligences and NFTs, the challenges multiply and we respond to creators and artists of all kinds. Safe Creative offers a convenient and cost-effective online system that allows any creator to obtain the necessary evidence to prove their copyrights from home, using their computer, and to register all their works instantly.

The work of Julian Manzelli (Chu) (Buenos Aires, Argentina, 1974) is situated within a field of research in which art adopts methodologies close to scientific thinking without renouncing its poetic and speculative dimension. His practice is structured as an open process of experimentation, in which the studio functions as a laboratory: a space for trial, error, and verification, oriented less toward the attainment of certainties than toward the production of new forms of perception. In this sense, his work enters into dialogue with an epistemology of uncertainty, akin to philosophical traditions that understand knowledge as a process of becoming rather than closure.

Manzelli explores interstitial zones, understood as spaces of transit and transformation. These ambiguous areas are not presented as undefined but as potential—sites where categories dissolve, allowing the emergence of hybrid, almost alchemical configurations that reprogram the gaze. Geometry, far from operating as a normative system, appears tense and destabilized. His precarious constructions articulate a crossing between intuition and reason, play and engineering, evoking a universal grammar present in both nature and symbolic thought. Thus, Manzelli’s works do not represent the world but rather transfigure it, activating questions rather than offering closed answers.

Avícola. Escultura magnética. Madera, imanes, laca automotriz y acero. 45 x 25 cm. 2022.

Science and its methods inspire your process. What kinds of parallels do you find between scientific thinking and artistic creation?

Science and art are two disciplines that I believe share a great deal and are undoubtedly deeply interconnected. I am interested in that point of intersection, and although they are often placed in opposition, I think they share a common origin. Both involve a continuous search, a need for answers that stems from curiosity rather than certainty, and that often—or in many cases—leads both artists and scientists into uncomfortable, uncertain positions, pushing them out of their comfort zones. I believe this is a fundamental and very compelling aspect shared by these two disciplines, which in some way define us as human beings.

In this sense, both share experimentation as a core axis of their practice. Trial and error, testing, and the entire process of experimentation are what generate development. In my case, this applies directly to the studio: I experience it as a laboratory where different projects are developed and materials are tested. It is as if one formulates a hypothesis and then puts it to the test—materials, procedures, forms, colors—and outcomes emerge. These results are not meant to be verified, but rather, in art, I believe their function is to generate new modes of perception, new ways of seeing, and new experiences.

Receptor Lunar #01. Ensamble de Madera Reciclada torneada. 102 x 26 x 26 cm. De la serie Fuerza orgánica. 2023.

You work within the interstices between the natural and the artificial, the figurative and the abstract. What interests you about these ambiguous zones, and what kinds of knowledge emerge from them?

I have always been quite restless, and that has led me to immerse myself in different fields and disciplines. I believe there is a special richness in interstitial spaces—in movement back and forth, in circulation between media. These spaces have always drawn my attention: ambiguous places, hybrid zones. There is something of an amphibious logic here—amphibians as entities that carry and transmit information, that share, that cross boundaries and membranes. In my case, this is closely linked to what I understand as freedom, especially at a time marked by categorization, labeling, and a profound distortion of the very concept of freedom.

On another level, more metaphysical in nature, it is within the mixture—within that blending—that the living energy of creating something new appears, which is undoubtedly a fundamental aspect of what it means to be human. It is as if “one thing becomes something else outside the mold.” This interaction is necessary to break structures, to build new ones, to transmute—to undergo something almost alchemical. I believe fixation is the enemy. In a way, ambiguity is what allows us to reprogram our gaze and generate new points of view.

De la serie Naturaleza orgánica. Madera torneada recuperada de podas de sequía y rezagos de construcción. 2025.

Movement, repetition, and sequence appear as visual strategies in your work. What role does seriality play in the generation of meaning?

Movement, repetition, and sequence are very present in my work. I have a long background in animation, and in some way that interest begins to filter into the other disciplines in which I work. Thus, movement also appears in my visual art practice.

Seriality is a way of thinking about time and of introducing a certain narrative and sense of action into the work, while at the same time conditioning the viewer’s experience. It invites the viewer to try to decipher repetition as a kind of progression. I am particularly interested in more abstract forms of narrative. In this type of narrative, where there is no clear figuration, repetition begins to establish a pulse, a “beat” that marks the passage of time. What is interesting, I think, is the realization that repetition is not exactly duplication, and that what seems identical begins to mutate over time, through rhythm, or through its own unfolding history.

De la serie Naturaleza orgánica. Madera torneada recuperada de podas de sequía y rezagos de construcción. 2025.

You work with geometric and constructive systems. What role does geometry play as a symbolic language within your practice?

Geometry is present in my work in multiple forms and dimensions, generating different dynamics. Generally, I tend to put it into crisis, into tension. When one engages closely with my works, it becomes clear that constructions based on imprecise and unstable balance predominate. I am not interested in symmetry or exactness, but rather in a dynamic construction that proposes a situation. I do not conceive of geometry as a rigid system.

I believe this is where a bridge is established between the intuitive and the rational, between playfulness and engineering—those unexpected crossings. At the same time, geometry functions as a code, a language that connects us to a universal grammar present in nature, in fractals, and that undoubtedly refers to symbolism. It is there that an interesting portal opens, where the work begins to re-signify itself and becomes a process of meaning-making external to itself, entirely uncertain. The results of my works are not pieces that represent; rather, I believe they are pieces that transfigure and, in doing so, generate questions.

WIP. Madera torneada recuperada de podas de sequía y rezagos de contrucción. 2022.

To what extent do you plan your works, and how much space do you leave for the unexpected—or even for error?

In terms of planning, it depends greatly on the project and even on the day. Some projects, due to their scale or complexity, require careful planning, especially when they involve the participation of other people. In many cases, planning is undoubtedly essential.

That said, in the projects I do plan, I am always interested in leaving space for improvisation, where chance or the unfolding of the process itself can come into play. I believe this is where interesting things begin to emerge, and it is important not to let them pass by. Personally, I would find it very boring to work on pieces whose outcome I already know in advance. For me, the realization of each work is an uncertain journey; I do not know where it will lead, and I believe that is where its potential lies—not only for me, but also for the work itself and for the viewer’s experience.