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MOMENTUM: AN AUGMENTED REALITY EXPERIENCE (AR) AT ART MADRID'25

From March 5 to 9, Montalbán street will transform into an immersive digital environment with Ciudad Sutil, an innovative augmented reality experience led by multimedia artist Susi Vetter. This project is curated in collaboration with CRU and is part of the parallel program of Art Madrid'25. The proposal invites the public to explore an alternative layer of reality through technology, offering a sublimated vision of the urban environment and the city's landscape.

Momentum. Digital scketch. WIP.

Ciudad Sutil: A new way of inhabiting urban space.

Ciudad Sutil is a program that proposes ephemeral artistic interventions in public spaces, exploring new ways of inhabiting and perceiving the city. Through digital art and augmented reality, it seeks to reveal hidden layers of the urban environment, questioning the rigidity of the built landscape and opening spaces for imagination and reflection on our relationship with the city and nature.

Susi Vetter. Momentum. AR Art Installation. Technologies used: Adobe After Effects & Photoshop, Procreate, Blender. Processor: 8th Wall. 2025.

Momentum: Redefining the relationship between City and Nature

In Momentum, the urban landscape with its ordered architecture, paved streets, and precise geometry suddenly opens up to reveal a living canvas that challenges our perception of city spaces. At the end of the street, a forest emerges between the buildings. From this wild growth, a giant mask arises, initially blank and inert, which is pushed upward toward a triangulated glass ceiling, reminiscent of the Galería de Cristal of the Palacio de Cibeles. The mask remains suspended there, between the artificial world below and the contained sky above.

Its eyes slowly open, as if seeing the world for the first time. From one of them, tender plants begin to sprout, initially shy, then with increasing vigor, transforming the sterile façade into a living, organic entity.

As nature claims the mask, the glass ceiling above it – that meticulous human attempt to frame the sky – begins to crack. Fragments of glass fall like rain, breaking the barrier between the built space and the open air. The mask, now covered in vegetation, slowly descends until it disappears.

Momentum. Digital scketch.

A reflection about the urban future

This augmented reality experience invites us to reconsider our relationship with the natural world in urban environments. The street, with its rigid lines and concrete certainty, becomes a space for exploration to imagine new forms of coexistence between the built and the organic. The mask symbolizes our artificial relationship with nature — how we perceive ourselves as separate from the wild, until nature finds ways to break into our spaces.

In the age of the Anthropocene, where human impact shapes every ecosystem, Urban Rewilding questions whether our future lies in continuous separation or in seeking new ways of coexistence between our built world and natural systems. As the boundaries between the city and the forest blur in this augmented reality experience, we glimpse possibilities for urban spaces where nature is not just a contained or decorative element, but an essential and transformative force.

Technology and creative process

The piece Momentum has been developed using various digital tools, including Adobe After Effects, Photoshop, Procreate, and Blender. Its processing is based on the 8th Wall platform, allowing for a seamless and immersive integration of virtual elements into the urban landscape.

Susi Vetter. Invited artist at Ciudad Sutil.

About the artist: Susi Vetter

Susi Vetter is an illustrator and multimedia artist based in Berlin. Her work focuses on telling immersive stories that blur the boundaries between physical and digital realities. Her tools include the web, augmented reality, and map projections, with the aim of creating experiences that invite reflection on the relationship between humans and their environment.

From March 5th to 9th, at Montalbán street 1, at the entrance of the Galería de cristal of the Palacio de Cibeles, you can enjoy Momentum.

ART MADRID CLOSES ITS 21ST EDITION AS A KEY EVENT OF MADRID ART WEEK

The Galería de Cristal of the Palacio de Cibeles hosted the 21st edition of Art Madrid from March 4 to 8, once again consolidating its role as one of the must-see events of Madrid Art Week. Over the course of five days, the fair brought together 35 national and international galleries and more than 200 artists, turning the venue into a meeting point for gallerists, collectors, professionals, and lovers of contemporary art.

Throughout its trajectory, Art Madrid has built a distinct identity, with a constant focus on giving visibility to both emerging and established galleries and on opening contemporary art to diverse audiences. Rather than being structured around a single curatorial line, the fair embraced a plural proposal, respecting the unique DNA of each exhibitor.

Art Madrid’26 presented a Gallery Program distinguished by the diversity of artistic proposals and languages, encouraging dialogue between different generations and contemporary practices. Painting, sculpture, photography, drawing, installation, and new hybrid forms coexisted in an edition that once again confirmed the dynamism of today’s art scene

During the days of the fair, nearly 20,000 visitors explored the booths of the participating galleries and enjoyed a parallel program that expanded the experience beyond the traditional exhibition format.

The Parallel Program: An Expanded Art Fair

The Parallel Program once again took center stage in the Art Madrid experience, activating the fair space through projects that explored new forms of interaction between artworks, artists, and the public.

Among the most notable initiatives was the performance series Open Infinite: What the Body Remembers, which presented a daily performative action at the fair featuring works by Colectivo La Burra Negra, Rocío Valdivieso, Amanda Gatti, and Jimena Tercero. The pieces incorporated the body as a critical device and a space of memory, reinforcing the presence of performance within Art Madrid’s programming.

The third edition of Open Booth presented Despiece. Protocolo de mutación, by Daniel Barrio, a site-specific project that transformed the booth into a landscape constructed from urban remnants and industrial materials. The installation invited visitors to physically engage with the work, creating an immersive experience within the exhibition space.

Meanwhile, Espacio Nebrija hosted the project Estancias transitorias (NotanIA SipedagogIE), a proposal by Nebrija University that reflected on Aesthetic Intelligence in the face of the growing dominance of algorithmic logic. The installation proposed a reclamation of gesture, materiality, and the time inherent to the creative process as dimensions that cannot be reduced to automation.

Lecturas. Curated Walkthroughs also returned, with itineraries designed by Zuriñe Lafón and Marisol Salanova that offered curatorial insights for exploring the fair from specific critical perspectives and expanding the visitor experience.

Patronage, Awards, and Acquisitions

Support for contemporary creation once again stood as one of the fair’s central pillars through the second edition of the Art Madrid Patronage Program, which recognizes the work of artists and strengthens the connections between galleries, collectors, and private entities.

On this occasion, the following awards were presented:

Cervezas Alhambra Emerging Artist Award Iyán Castaño, represented by Galería Arancha Osoro

One Shot Hotels Breakthrough Artist Award Joost Vandebrug, represented by KANT Gallery

In the Acquisition Awards category, several private collections incorporated works presented at the fair into their collections.

Studiolo Collection Roger Sanguino — DDR Art Gallery

Devesa Law Kim Han Ki — Banditrazos Gallery

E2IN2 Collection Albert Bonet — Inéditad Gallery

dn2 Collection Iván Baizán — Galería Arancha Osoro

These acquisitions reflect the private sector’s commitment to the development of contemporary art and contribute to advancing the professional trajectories of emerging and mid-career artists.

Collecting and Support for the Artistic Ecosystem

The promotion of collecting once again played a prominent role in this edition thanks to the One Shot Collectors program, which offered personalized advice to both new buyers and more experienced collectors, facilitating access to the contemporary art market and fostering direct relationships between artists, galleries, buyers, and collectors.

This program, together with the Patronage Program, continues to strengthen the professional ecosystem surrounding the fair and reinforce Art Madrid’s commitment to supporting contemporary creation.

Among the most notable sales were works by Antonio Ovejero, represented by CLC ARTE; Leticia Feduchi and Ángela Mena, represented by Galería Sigüenza; Idoia Cuesta and Iyán Castaño, represented by Galería Arancha Osoro; and Yasiel Elizagaray, represented by Nuno Sacramento Arte Contemporânea. Likewise, the proposals presented by Inéditad Gallery were very well received, with notable sales of works by artists Albert Bonet and Eduardo Urdiales, as well as Carmen Mansilla, who debuted at Art Madrid'26 and achieved a sold out.

The overall balance of the edition has been particularly positive, with sales reported by all 35 participating galleries, confirming the strong interest from collectors and the dynamism of the market throughout the fair. Among the galleries that recorded notable commercial activity are La Mercería (Valencia), LAVIO (Murcia–Shanghai), 3 Punts Galería (Barcelona), Galerie One (Paris), Shiras Galería (Valencia), Galería Rodrigo Juarranz (Aranda de Duero), Galería São Mamede (Lisbon), Yiri Arts (Taiwan), and Trema Arte Contemporânea (Lisbon), among others.

A Fair made possible thanks to Its network of Partners

The success of Art Madrid’26 has been made possible thanks to the support of its official sponsors: Cervezas Alhambra, One Shot Hotels, Liquitex, Universidad Nebrija, and Posca, as well as the trust of its collaborators: Asociación 9915, Colección Studiolo, E2IN2, Colección dn2, Devesa Law, Enviarte, Cova 13, and Vanille Bakery Lab & Café. The fair also benefits from the involvement of its media partners and the support of various cultural organizations, private collections, and institutions that contribute to strengthening the contemporary art ecosystem.

Art Madrid: A Future Full of Possibilities

After 21 years of history, Art Madrid continues to consolidate its position as a key event in the contemporary art calendar, both nationally and internationally. Its ability to bring together galleries, artists, collectors, and institutions reinforces its role as a space for encounter, exchange, and discovery. The fair maintains a steadily growing outlook, driven by a program that evolves each year and increasingly opens up to more innovative proposals.

Thank you for being part of the 21st edition of Art Madrid. Your support is essential for continuing to promote art and culture.