Art Madrid'25 – Estampa Contemporary Art Fair celebrates its 22 edition in Matadero Madrid

As multiple art fair and more focused on the creation and dissemination of collecting, Estampa presents this 9 October the 22nd edition of the contemporary art fair.
 
Estampa Contemporary Art Fair will occupy the space 16 of the Matadero de Madrid from 9 to 12 October with the main novelty of showing "unique work" in every technique and procedure. It is the main backbone of the new General Program that involves more than 70 national and international galleries as + R (Barcelona), Adora Calvo (Salamanca), Alarcón Criado (Sevilla), Álvaro Alcázar (Madrid), Angels Baths (Badajoz), Juana Mordo Archive Editions (Madrid), ArtNueve (Murcia), Astarte (Madrid), Camera Obscura (Madrid), Married Santapau (Madrid), Cayon (Madrid), Fernádez-Braso (Madrid), Fernando Pradilla (Madrid), Stamp Gallery (Madrid), Hare Gallery (Madrid) , Invaliden 1 (Berlin), Joan Prats (Barcelona), JosedelaFuente-before Nuble- (Santander), Juan Silió (Santander), Juana de Aizpuru (Madrid), Maior (Pollença, Mallorca), MDA (Oslo), Moisés Pérez de Albéniz (Madrid), Miguel Marcos (Barcelona), Mikel Armendia (Pamplona), NF Gallery (Madrid), Odalys (Madrid), press Ogami (Madrid), Paula Alonso (Madrid), Photosai Gallery (Madrid), Pilar Serra (Madrid ), Rafael Perez Hernando (Madrid), Espai d'Art Set (Valencia), Siboney (Santander), Tasneem Gallery (Barcelona) and Yusto / Giner (Málaga). 
 
The Selection Commitee is formed by the curators Lorena Martinez Corral, Alicia Ventura and Mariano Navarro, and by collectors as Josep Maria Civit or Jose Antonio Trujillo. 
 
In parallel, the Drawing Up Estampa program focuses on the emphasis on contemporary drawing as a means of visual communication and as the seamless access to collecting because of their format and more affordable prices. 
The 22nd edition of Estampa has invited Mexico as a country that sponsors the exhibition Deconstructing the Landscape, an exhibition of photography by emerging and consolidated artists represented by gallerist of this country and curated by Manuel Rocha (Mexico City, 1968) in collaboration with the Cultural Institute of Mexico in Spain and their Embassy. 
 

One of the key points this year will be the COLLECT program, the colleciting program of the fair, holding exhibitions, debates, presentations, in a separate space... with the presence of some of the most prominent collectors of our cultural environment to create a space information and training of new collectors. The designer and collector Josep M. Civit has ceded part of its collection to be enjoyed by the participants in the program and the artist Miquel Barceló, guest artist this year, has developed a work for the occasion.

 

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.