Art Madrid'25 – Exhibition Josef Albers in Fundación Juan March Madrid

The first retrospective dedicated to Josef Albers (1888-1976) in Spain it is here thanks to Juan March Foundation. However, it does not pretend to be a common retrospective, with a chronological ordered exhibition of the artist´s works, no, this exhibition has the vocation to let the pieces speak themselves, to make transcend the intrinsic coherence of an irrefutable artistic trajectory, whose main pillars are simplicity, minimalism and, up to a certain point, the craftsmanship in the execution. 

Albers is known as an abstract painter. His inclination for this tendency was shown in his academic beginnings and it can be recognized the influence of artists as Matisse or Mondrian. Nevertheless, in its work's abstraction we can appreciate a clear sense of search the equilibrium, the compositive correction and precision in the facture. It seems that, as Juan Ramón Jiménez did,  who searched for pure poetry into the own potentiality of each absolute word, Albers explores the total capability of colors, the bare form, but expressive, the flat geometry that creates volumes, the unreal deepness projected by the cleanliness of lines and the superposition of structures.

It is advisable to underline the teaching trajectory of Albers. He started its academic career in Germany, in Bauhaus design school, and then he went to Dessau as professor. With the nazi uprising in 1933, he continued this labour in EE.UU., where he joined the Black Mountain College (North Carolina) till 1949, moment when he started to manage the Design Department of Yale University till 1958. These trips left a mark into his work, a clear example of transition art between artistic European tradition and the North-American one, and he had a great influence over North-American artists of 50's decade, as Richard Serra or Eva Hesse, through "Hard Edge" movement, expression coined by the curator and art critical Jules Langsner in 1959 to identify the painting movement followed by Californian artists whose main characteristic is the abstraction based on geometric outlines and defined color areas.

We recommend you to visit this exhibition that shows a hundred works never seen before in our country, and knowing Josef Albers, who was, in addition, a writer and art critical of recognized prestige.
 
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
From 28th March to 6th July, 2014.
Fundación Juan March (Castelló, 77. Madrid)
Opening times: M-S from 11 to 20 h. | Sunday and fair days: from 11 to 14 h.

 

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.