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!

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.