Art Madrid'25 – Las Reglas del Juego new exhibition of Chema Madoz

Photographer Chema Madoz presents in "Las Reglas del Juego", a compilation of his images created between 2008 and 2014. The exhibition will be in the madrilian space Alcalá 31 until August.

 
 
It is a visual poet who writes poetry with objects, lines, volumes and shadows, objects in black and white that make us more questions than gives answers. Chema Madoz, National Photography Prize in 2000, is one of our most personal, unique and recognizable photographers, and he has displayed his collection of mental constructions and poetic visions in Sala Alcalá 31 of Madrid under the title "Las Reglas del Juego", a name that includes their art works between 2008 and 2014.
 
Indeed, the game that offers us Madoz with 124 images, is a game without more rules than elegance, mastery of photo language and a sharp and precise idea, with the naturalness and sense of humor that characterizes the photographer's work.
 
 
Stopped clocks, caged clouds, hands with spinning words, tributes to Magritte,... all his black and white photograph on baryta paper, is exposed almost complete for the first time and it speaks of a more mature Madoz, without losing their conceptual references but expanding his personal research on the language of objects and including things like animals, texts or even drawing as tool and trigger for new ideas.
The exhibition Chema Madoz 2008-2014 Las Reglas del Juego, is presented on the occasion of granting to the artist the Photographic Cultural Prize of the Community of Madrid 2012. This exhibition is part of the Official Selection of the International Festival of Photography and Visual Arts, PHotoEspaña 2015. In parallel, and to bring the work of Chema Madoz to everyone, the workshop visits "Poets in black and white " aimed at families with children between 6 and 12 years and Saturday in June and July.

Chema Madoz (Madrid, 1958), is one of the most important photographers of our country and enjoys international renown. Proof of this is his recent appearance at the Rencontres d'Arles (France) festival. In 1983 he held his first solo exhibition at the Royal Photographic Society of Madrid and since 1990 develops his poetic objects, that will be a constant theme in his photography to the present. He has received numerous awards, the Culture Prize of the Community of Madrid, mode of Photography (2012), the National Photography Award (2000) and the PHotoEspaña Prize (1998), among others. Large institutions as the National Centre de Arte Reina Sofia Museum and the Pompidou Centre have devoted solo exhibitions and his work is in major public and private collections of contemporary art and the Telefonica Foundation, the Andalusian Centre of Photography, the Juan March Foundation , the IVAM, the Ministry of Culture, the Fine Arts Museum of Houston and the National Museum itself Centro de Arte Reina Sofia.

 

 

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.