Artists Nicolás Laiz Placeres and Alona Harpaz are on show for the first time in Art Madrid, within the Galería ATC from Tenerife, presenting a collection where the wild is created through a space configured by the incursion of the human being in it.

Harpaz merges, over flat coloured backgrounds, expressionists figures and self-portraits mixed with wildlife and flora made with vibrant colours. Therefore, in her paintings, we can see a mixture between the beautiful and the terrifying. On the other hand, Laiz Paredes sculptures, have Nature and Human Being as elements in a disappearance process, mixed with objects which configure the reason of that destruction itself, creating iconic, almost monochromatic, three-dimensional shapes.

Alona Harpaz

I'm not here for your dream, 2019

Acrilico, spray y colores industriales sobre lienzo

140 x 150cm

Nicolás Laiz

Política Natural III, 2018

Resina, fibra de vidrio, aridos y pintura doble componente

80 x 30cm

Alona Harpaz (Tel Aviv, Israel, 1971) represents in her self-portraits botanic and animal patterns, applying a very personal and imaginative colour scheme, using a strong and vibrant brushstroke over, in many cases, merely decorative surfaces. In her work, colours exist by themselves, freely, but also as abstract well-mimicked elements or recognizable symbols. According to her, “perfectly beautiful paintings can also be dreadful”, and political commitment could be added to beauty and dreadfulness, as the critic Elke Buhruna points out. A sample of this could be seen in her work “Frequency Watchers”, which is a self-portrait of the artist riding a motorcycle, alluding to the 90s feminist movement in the United States, as Riot Grrrl and the Bikini Kill band, who combined feminism and pink lipstick. Therefore, her personality includes the political activism of her father (a Labour Zionist) and the artistic taste of her mother (a dancer).

Alona Harpaz

Frequency Watchers, 2018

Acrilico, spray y colores industriales sobre lienzo

80 x 100cm

Nicolás Laiz Placeres (Lanzarote, 1975), in his three-dimensional pieces, creates a confluence using objects of nature and industrial or genuinely pollutant materials, making a dichotomy between them. From this seemingly simple fusion, the artist is able to send a deeply elaborated message, with a critic tone, to a society that has led to overproduction and extreme and dangerous consumerism and, at the same time, using miscellaneous objects from the Isle’s “topic” iconography: shells, rocks and prickly pears blends with plastic bottles, totems and cranial shapes, creating iconic figures with advertising motifs of the extreme natural disaster situation that the Earth is facing. Finally, in a display of constant irony, his sculptures function as magical shapes that heal our status quo.

In the cage, the Alona Harpaz paintings howl next to the totems and fetish which his space partner Nicolás Laiz Placeres has made, mainly from different identity elements of Canary Islands.

Nicolás Laiz

Política Natural I, 2018

Resina, fibra de vidrio, aridos y pintura doble componente

80 x 30cm

Galería ATC located in the heart of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, participates for the first time in Art Madrid with an unreleased project, dedicated to these two artists which is forming part of the One Project program, coordinated by the art critic and independent curator Fernando Gómez de la Cuesta, under the theme “Salvajes: la cage aux fauves”.

Galería ATC was founded in 2017 by Elle Przybyla (USA) and Juan Matos Capote (Spain) as a part of the Agencia de Tránsitos Culturales - est. in 2014 -, a platform for multidisciplinar artistic investigation and the promotion of contemporary art. The gallery has an annual program featuring various exposicions of spanish and international artists, working with different media: painting, sculpture, video, photography, installations and sound art. In addition to these expositions, the Gallery arranges performances, conferences and other activities. From Canary Islands, Galería ATC grows dynamic relationships between the fringe and the cultural production centres. Their roots in Spain and USA and their imminent connection to Africa, allow them to operate as a cultural intersection space. Their program reflects the commitment to support artists with plenty of voices and in different moments of their careers.

Galería ATC will present, within the One Project project of Art Madrid, unseen art works by the artists Alona Harpaz and Nicolás Laiz Placeres.

Once again! ​ 🎂 2️⃣1️⃣ ​ 💫

Art Madrid returned to the Galería de Cristal of the Palacio de Cibeles from 4 to 8 March 2026 to celebrate twenty-one years of contemporary art. Spin the wheel and we're back for a new edition! That means that in two months we'll see each other there, at the fair, at Art Madrid'26.

The roller coaster of emotions that is a whole year of work starts slowly, then accelerates until it reaches a frenetic pace. Everybody gets ready for their own "performance", depending on where they are and what their role is during those days. In our case, we go from the computer screen to the entrance of the fair, where—after a year of preparation—we know by heart the name and face of every artist and gallery owner who arrives on setup day, before the sun has even risen, to register and begin an intense week of art.

It's double the excitement ☺️ because seeing each other again that day, just before the opening, means that we've managed to organize a new edition of our event.

Leticia Feduchi. Chair with green textile. Sigüenza Gallery.

For more than two decades, Art Madrid has served as an international meeting place where artists, galleries, and the public come together to discuss trends, techniques, and conceptual approaches in contemporary art. After a year of preparation, the run-up to the fair generates great excitement and marks the start of a highly anticipated week... the most important one... Madrid Art Week (in Madrid)..

The fair stands out for placing artists at the center of its proposal, promoting a dialogue between each creator's personal experience and the public's perception. It thus consolidates its role as a stage for promotion, commercialization, and critical reflection in the sector, seeking to shine the spotlight for an entire week on the work of those who make an art fair possible. We all contribute to and help build it, but it is in the work of art—the one we admire and that has come from the hands of a person who does something with great perfection—where the magic truly happens and where we must focus our attention.

Antonio Barahona. The big umbrella. María Aguilar Gallery.

In 2026, Art Madrid will bring together 185 artists from more than 25 countries in Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, and North America: The international and multicultural nature of the fair is showcased by the presence of the following countries: Germany, Argentina, Belarus, Brazil, Cameroon, Canada, China, South Korea, Cuba, Denmark, Lebanon, Spain, the United States, Slovakia, France, Israel, Italy, Japan, Morocco, Mexico, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, the United Kingdom, Serbia, South Africa, Sweden, Taiwan, Uruguay, and Venezuela.

Of the 185 artists, 78 are participating in Art Madrid'26 for the first time and 107 are returning, reflecting a balance between innovation and continuity. Approximately 75% are national artists and the remaining 25% come from international galleries, ensuring a diverse range of styles, techniques, and discourses.

Carmen Mansilla. The color of silence. Inéditad Gallery.

We would like to highlight that this year the presence of female artists is particularly significant, exceeding the "50" barrier, following constant efforts to raise awareness of the importance of their participation in exhibition circuits, which remains essential. Of the 185 participants, 62 are women, and 33 of them are making their debut at the fair. These figures reflect, beyond a formal commitment, the continuous and silent work that our organization carries out to promote gender equality and give visibility to new voices in contemporary art, always from a realistic perspective and consistent with the structure of the sector. In this sense, the proposal and representation of female artists is a shared responsibility, in which the role of galleries is fundamental.

Carmen Baena. The garden blooms XI. Galería BAT alberto cornejo.

And if those figures haven't been enough to grab your attention, let's talk about the works you'll find at Art Madrid'26: most of them are recent creations (2023-2026).

You'll find around 2,000 works, ranging from painting and drawing to sculpture and assemblages, with sizes ranging from small formats (7×5 inches) to large canvases (79×59 inches). The main disciplines continue to be painting, sculpture, and drawing, without neglecting photography and installation. Among the paintings, oil and acrylic on classic supports (canvas, wood, board) predominate, although the use of mixed and contemporary techniques is also evident, combining oil, acrylic, spray paint, and collage on panel.

The drawings include graphite, charcoal, or pastel on paper or panel, sometimes mounted on board, and even unconventional supports such as leather. In the three-dimensional realm, we find materials as diverse as ceramics and glazed stoneware, resins and metals (steel, iron, aluminum) for industrial sculptures, carved or assembled natural wood, and organic fragments (conifer, linden, and cypress logs) integrated with natural dyes. In short, the works combine classical, industrial, and organic media, reflecting the technical diversity of contemporary art today.

A significant number of artists are participating in the fair for the first time, addressing issues such as migration, racial and gender identities, sustainability, the deconstruction of traditional languages of representation, and critical reflection on art and its own system. Architecture, design, traditional craft, languages, and digital environments have also informed the exhibition proposals for this edition..

Ramón González Palazón. ST. LAVIO.

We welcome the artists of Art Madrid'26 with open arms because WE LOVE THE ARTISTS! We remain committed to promoting open creative dialogue. The works stand out for their technical quality and in-depth exploration of form, color, and texture. From evocative landscapes to intimate portraits and three-dimensional pieces, each creation reflects the artists' professional commitment, forming a collection of visually striking works that invite reflection on the nature of art and its relationship with the contemporary context. Because loving artists means, above all, viewing their work with the attention it deserves.

Han Bing. Family trees. LAVIO.