Art Madrid'25 – DIEGO VALLEJO GARCÍA: FRAGMENTS OF A GENERATION

Diego Vallejo García

CONVERSATIONS WITH MARISOL SALANOVA. INTERVIEW PROGRAM. ART MADRID'25

Diego Vallejo García (Ávila, 1991) has a classical style in his treatment or composition, but with a contemporary theme. He studied Art History before studying Restoration and Conservation, which gives his projects a degree of knowledge that crosses from the theoretical to the practical. His work is representative of the tendency towards fragmented painting and the superimposition of realities, from the abstraction of colour fields to the painted photomontage of striking realism. This photographic exploration is taken to the realm of pictorial distortion.

The artist makes a generational portrait without individualising anyone, seeking to capture the collective personality of his generation, of the customs. He paints everything with oils, glazes and materials that he uses, thinking a lot about the conservation of the pieces and their durability.


Synergies. 2024. Oil on canvas. 114 x 195 cm.


What role does experimentation play in your creative process?

I think that experimentation in the conception of my work is fundamental, as it begins even before dealing with the actual subject matter of the painting. It begins in the configuration of the image, working on it through digital media such as Photoshop or Procreate. However, that image will only be a guide at the moment of painting; as the work progresses and accidents with the material arise, the image becomes detached from the painting, and it is the painting that finally takes control. That is why accidents occur in my painting in which elements are eliminated or appear that were not originally planned.


What are your references?

Well, I have many references. If we start with the classics, the first one I would mention is Velázquez, as well as all the paintings of the 19th century. As for the more current ones, they could be Rubén Guerrero, Ignacio Estudillo, Phil Hale, Sean Scully. They are painters who, in the end, deal with matter rather than image. I think this is the natural process of any figurative painter: at the beginning, trying to capture reality more or less faithfully, and with time you realize that what should take precedence over the image is the painting itself.


Fr Ltsch. 2024. Oil on canvas. 195 x 195 cm.


Why do your works have such an emphasis on nocturnality?

My work is not so much about nocturnality, but rather about light. What nocturnality allows me to do is to work with artificial light, and it gives me the possibility of treating light in its different temperatures and powers to create different sensations or different realities.


Do you feel more comfortable portraying individuals or crowds?

Portraying individuals or crowds pursues the same goal: to seek a portrait of my generation and society through customs and actions. How do I get this portrait without being individual, but collective? By eliminating the faces of the characters.


Nothing Is What It Seems. 2024. Oil on canvas. 146 x 195 cm.


What is the importance of movement, of action, in your works?

Movement and action are related to the previous question, because the movement of those individuals, crowds or characters in the work identifies them with a social movement and a collective identity. Also the movement that is really perceived in the work, of blurring, comes from trying to create a concept of character rather than a character in itself.





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.