Art Madrid'25 – DAVID SALLE IMPACTS AT CAC

Fishing, 1998 oil and acrylic on canvas and linen 64 x 96 inches. Art © David Salle / Licensed by Vaga, NY, NY. Reproduction without permission is prohibited.

 

David Salle (Norman, Oklahoma, 1952), he is a very eclectic American artist. He has experimented with various artistic currents. He is credited with glimpses of Neo-Expressionism, Simulationism, Bad Painting, or New Image Painting, but, Salle is more than all that. After beginning in a avant-garde art of mid-century, he put aside the avant-gardes and went his own way. The artist, decided to combine all his environment and capture it in his work, towards the end of the 70 begins to merge works and techniques in image and video. This will result in his style personal and defined.

 

One of his first jobs was in a pornographic magazine, from there comes all that eroticism and sensuality that impregnate his works. A man without coveralls and with a certain naive air, he is able to show the two sides of the coin. The ironic and self-critical style is appreciated through this game of overlapping images.

 

 

David Salle, Yellow Fellow, 2015. Oil, acrylic, silk-screen printing ink, wax and digital printing on linen. 78 "x 108". Courtesy of Skarstedt, Copyright David Salle, VAGA License

 

 

"Inspired by true-life events" has 32 paintings dating back to 1992. The exhibition is divided into two sections marked a more introspective and sober, Silver Paintings, which according to the artist are a "forced juxtaposition" show monochrome photographs with a Only members, embodied in a canvas. The other part, more colorful and vibrant, Late product paintings, show us a representation of pop culture elevated to maximum power, its references to the 50s and 60s transpose us into a more personal and almost unitary language.

 

 

David Salle, Silver 1, 2014. Pigment on linen. 84 "x 60". Courtesy of Skarstedt, Copyright David Salle, VAGA License

 

 

The set of pop images is a part of its essence as it coexisted with this popular aesthetic. It may sound strange that these two exhibitions are joined in the CAC, but they really are the perfect complement. The artist denied the idea that they were created to expose themselves together, but what is undoubtedly the magnificent articulation they form in the same context.

 

 

Photo of the exhibition

 

 

Large formats that suggest a lot of emotions are part of this imagery created by the artist. Mix of provocative elements, words, objects and of course culture are the keys to the success of this great exhibition that is about to end. The exhibition ends December 4 so do not miss this great opportunity to enjoy an art loaded with emotion and dynamism.

 

 

 

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.