Everything is ready for celebrating Art Madrid'19! All is prepared for the inauguration of the 14th edition: painting, sculpture, photography, video art, performance or more hybrid arts; the most international edition is coming!

This year, the wide and varied proposal of Art Madrid stands out for the remarkable international character. In this sense, Art Madrid presents a unique perspective of the South American art scene, highlighting certain proposals such as the collective O-Art Project, Collage Habana, Zielinsky or Kreisler. Also, the South African and French-African tendencies are singularly represented this year, with artists from different origins and selections such as the Oda Gallery or Norty galleries will present.

Photo: Ester Arteaga.

Some countries especially represented through their artists are Germany, Portugal, France, the United States or Taiwan. New visions that the audience can discover in São Mamede, Schmalfuss, Robert Dress, Paulo Nunes, Barrou Planquart, Hispánica o Yiri Arts’ booths. Other galleries’ proposals are very international, such as the Art Lounge, the MH Art Gallery, 3 punts or the BAT Alberto Cornejo Gallery. The selections by Marita Segovia, Lola & the Unicorn, Montsequi o Víctor Lope galleries stand out as well.

Photo: Miguel Ángel Satue.

As always, the national creation is one of the strong points of the fair, showcasing an exceptional overview of current Spanish art, as shown by Miquel Alzueta, Rodrigo Juarranz, Aurora Vigil-Escalera, Espiral, Fucking Art, Luisa Pita, Arancha Osoro, Moret Art, Alba Cabrera, Bea Villamarín, Shiras, Cornión, Jorge Alcolea or Kur Art proposals.

Manuela Eichner

Pistoeira, 2018

Collage on wood

50 x 50cm

Once again Art Madrid presents the ONE PROJECT program, conceived to support and promote young artists whose careers are in an initial or intermediate state. The project takes place in a curated proposal within the fair in which the works of the creators are presented in a solo show format while maintaining a unitary vision. This year, one of the great updates of the program is the incorporation of Nerea Ubieto, art critic and curator who presents a new proposal led only by female artists. This choice, as stated by Ubieto, is based “on the eagerness to level an unstable balance in which female participation in art fairs is still today unfair”.

Alejandra Atarés

Palmeras Azules, 2018

Oil and acrylic on linen

114 x 146cm

Virginia Rivas

Atisbar, 2018

Acrylic and graphite on canvas

146 x 114cm

Under the title "Ficciones, máscaras y paisajes: el color como telón de fondo", 7 artists feature specific proposals for the fair in which the international presence stands out again. As the curator explains, the works invite us to build our own universes, because "through creation, we can get rid of the burdens that slow down the development of society, dissolve stereotypes, invent new ones, own what we want to change and, effectively, transform it. No limits are worth having, just more or less believable masks; only colour with a more or less positive charge”.

The authors of the interventions and works presented are Rūta Vadlugaitė (represented by Contour Art Gallery, Vilna), Virginia Rivas (DDR Art Gallery, Madrid), Mara Caffarone (Granada Gallery, Comuna), Nuria Mora (About Art, Lugo), Sofía Echeverri (Flux Zone, Ciudad de México), Manuela Eichner (RV Cultura e Arte, Salvador) y Alejandra Atarés (Víctor Lope Arte Contemporáneo, Barcelona).

Rubén Martín de Lucas, "República # 12" image, 2019.

Another of the great news of this edition is related to the Guest Artist, Rubén Martín de Lucas, a multidisciplinary creator who, after his step as co-founder of the collective Boa Mistura, continued his solo career with a line of work on the relationship between the individual and the territory. Martín de Lucas features new works from the “Repúblicas Mínimas” series, within the celebrated “Stupid Borders” project: an exciting work to reflect on the geopolitical borders and the sense of ownership under a look both critical and poetic. This series will be presented in a new outstanding format at Art Madrid.

Foto. Perucha.

Also, Art Madrid'19 visitors will be surprised by the different participatory actions that they will discover at the booth of Cultura Inquieta, official media partner of this edition. Also, you can take a break, enjoy a craft beer and comment on everything seen at the fair, in the space that Cervezas La Virgen will have in the Lounge area. For their part, at the VEGAP spot they will be able to see the extensive work carried out by this organisation: from the management in Spain of the Intellectual Property rights of the visual creators, representing more than 150,000 artists from 46 countries, to the development of projects such as the VEGAP Image Bank, the "Proposals" annual contest or the "Art and Law" Publishing Collection.

In short, Art Madrid'19 is once again a great opportunity to approach an excellent panorama of the contemporary creation, with a wide and varied proposal that stands out for its increasingly international character and its permanent commitment to young creators and forms of newest creation. Don’t miss the new edition of Art Madrid, the most friendly art fair that includes everyone!

Buying the first work of art always instils respect. A difficult feeling to define that mixes vertigo with adrenaline. But over uncertainty and caution, a pleasurable sense of connection, understanding, and desire prevails. That work that, once seen, stays in the mind, reappears in the memory several times a day and seems to tell you that it is willing to be part of your home, is the perfect candidate to make the decision.

In the first steps, many collectors do point out that one does not start from an established plan, but rather that one acquires pieces based on taste and the connection one feels with them until, after time, they realise that the volume of works that accumulates can be labelled as a "collection". For example, this is how Alicia Aza explains it:

“I was not aware that I was collecting until many years later when a third party named me as a collector and talked about my collection. In 2005, I became aware of what collecting means and decided to articulate a collection with an identity of criteria and formats”.

Marcos Martín Blanco, co-founder, with his wife Elena Rueda, of the MER Collection, shares this same opinion:

“Collecting has been a passion, driven by a visceral state that encourages you to do so. The collection, in terms of acquisitions, has not been particularly complicated because, let's face it: it is easy to buy because they are all beautiful things and you have some clear idea of where you want to go, but at first those preferences were not so clear. It is with the time that a criterion is being formed”.

It is not always this way, of course, but for the buyer who starts out on this path, the personal connection that entails the first piece is essential. There it is the germ of a lasting relationship that is not limited to a simple aesthetic question but is an open window to knowledge, to exploration, to a world that is often unknown to us and awakens our fascination. The seed of that connection is purely sentimental, and it is precisely this impulse that determines the first acquisitions. The first piece is never forgotten.

Art Madrid'20, photo by Ana Maqueda

Exceeding the usual recommendations made by advisers and agents, rare is the occasion when the art lover decides to buy by pure investment. These paths usually open later, when the volume of pieces is large enough. In addition, there are those who are a bit against this classic concept of the traditional collector, approached from an eccentric, elitist and little accessible vision. On the contrary, art buyers are, above all, art lovers, sentient beings and permeable to creative stimulus who, at a given moment, decide to deepen the relationship they already have with art to take a piece home.

It is not that hard to overcome that small psychological barrier that turns the visitor into a buyer if one approaches the matter from a more personal and intimate perspective than from social consideration. Small-format works, graphic work or serial photography are of great help for this, whose price range, generally more affordable, allows a closer comparison to the daily basis expenses. In this way, the purchase of art falls within the range of feasible activities and becomes something close and possible.

Art Madrid'20, photo by Marc Cisneros

At that moment, a different relationship with art begins, based on pure experience and coexistence with the acquired piece. Perhaps it can be seen as an act of daring, but on many occasions, it is more a matter of necessity and transformation. Collectors also agree that the acquisition of an artwork is an exercise on personal analysis and opening up to a new field of knowledge that was previously alien to us. Alicia Aza explains that the reason she acquired her first piece of video art, by Sergio Prego, is because she did not understand it and because she saw it as a challenge and an opportunity to self-improve. This open window to knowledge creates new connections and bonds with creators, as one of the most fascinating parts of the process. Candela Álvarez Soldevilla explains that

"I think the most interesting thing in the art world is talking to artists. They are people with a special sensitivity to listen and understand.”

And Alicia Aza also says:

"I can share the satisfaction of being able to count on many artists in my circle of close friends today, and that is a long way to go."

Thus, with works that seem acceptable within the horizon of expenses that each one considers affordable, it is easy to find a piece that catches us. Since then, our home also evolves into a space in which art has a permanent place and presence, and there is no doubt that this transforms us inside.

Art Madrid'20, photo by Henar Herguera

Jaime Sordo, owner of Los Bragales collection and founder of the 9915 Contemporary Art Collectors Association, has always defined his relationship with art as a true passion and a vital necessity. For buyers who start on this path, he has the following recommendation:

“It is an essential condition that they feel the need to live with their passion to enjoy the works. Another very important aspect is that before making decisions for purchases, they are informed, so it is necessary to read specialised newspapers and books, visit exhibitions and museums and a lot of contact with galleries, which is an important and very specific source of information of the artists they represent. Finally, the presence in national and international art fairs. All this generates information and training.”

Indeed, fairs have become a good place for discovery because they condense a wide offer and allow diverse and global contact in a concentrated way. For this reason, many new generation buyers start in the context of an event such as Art Madrid, whose closeness and quality constitute a unique opportunity to meet, soak up and feed the passion for art.

(*) quotes taken from various interviews published in public media between 2013 and 2019.