Liquitex, leading brand in acrylics and collaborator of # ArtMadrid18 launches a new range of cadmium-free colors with the same performance as acrylics with cadmium but safer for the artist and the environment. Do you join the challenge?

Liquitex cadmium free

Since its creation in 1955, Liquitex has partnered with artists to ensure constant evolution and innovation. As there is not a single opinion about the damage that can potentially be caused by cadmium pigments, Liquitex has chosen to offer both alternatives in parallel, so that artists can choose based on their personal preferences. ColArt, in constant search for safer formulations, (already they did it with the health and environmental implications of lead and stopped using white lead pigments in their formulations) it thus becomes the first brand in the market to launch an alternative to cadmium paints with a performance comparable to that of the original cadmium paints, and responds to the needs of artists who care more about health and enviroment safety issues.

Liquitex cadmium free

Throughout 3 years, a team of chemists has evaluated a range of pigments available to develop 7 new colors that respect our health and the environment: Light yellow, medium yellow, yellow dark, orange, light red, medium red and dark red, which offer the same resistance to light and vitality as classic cadmium paints and have the Approved Product Seal of the Art and Creative Materials Institute Institute (ACMI), that identifies safe art materials, that is, that the products that carry them have been evaluated by qualified toxicologists and labeled according to federal and state legislation.

Liquitex cadmium free

But, in addition to the toxicological test, it was essential to be tested by artists, the users. Liquitex identified regular users of acrylic paint and in particular of cadmium colors to carry out a series of tests (light resistance, longevity, pure tone of color, brightness, viscosity ...) Each artist received two sets of identical colors, one with genuine cadmium paints and one with cadmium-free paints. The tests were blind, without the artists knowing how one set of paintings differed from the other. They were given a month to work with both games and compare. They were also given a diary in which to write down observations during the evaluation period, as well as an exhaustive questionnaire at the end. None identified the fact that one of the two sets contained cadmium-free paints.

Liquitex wants artists to experience first-hand that the performance of alternative colors free of cadmium is truly comparable. Do you want to try this new CADMIUM FREE range? Do you want to receive one of its "blind tests"? Then enter the link and participate in the challenge: here

Liquitex cadmium free

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.