Art Madrid'25 – Montenegro gallery in Art Madrid\'15

The Montenegro gallery, run by Victor M. Rodeiro, was founded in 1987 under the direction of Victor Rodeiro Montenegro. In the beginning was oriented towards 20th century Galician artist, with an aim to contribute to the dissemination of Galician art, hence its close collaboration retrospectives of artists such as José Frau, Arturo Souto, Sotomayor, Luis Seoane, Anton Lamazares Manuel Pesqueira, Manuel Antonio Fernández Colmeiro and without forgetting the modern and contemporary art, with a special interest in the historical avant-garde.
 
 

Obra de Adolfo Scholsser.

Montenegro's bet is a mixing of avant-garde with young contemporary artists and proposes art works by Bosco Sodi, Joan Miró, Wilfredo Lam, Adolfo Schlosser, AR Penk and young galician photographer Carla Andrade.
 
 

Fotografía de Carla Andrade.

 

Wilfredo Lam is a  cuban painter, one of the most original exponents of Surrealism in Latin America and creator of a new pictorial language that fuses Afro-Cuban heritage with the latest European avant-garde. He began his art studies at the San Alejandro Academy in Havana, and in 1924 traveled to Spain to study at the Academia de San Fernando in Madrid. After the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), he moved to Paris (France) where he met the Spanish artist Pablo Picasso, who exerted a strong influence on his early works. In Paris he joins the group with French Surrealist poet André Breton and German artist Max Ernst. In 1941 he returned to Cuba where he began to develop a style of painting that although in close contact with surrealism, adopted elements of Afro-Cuban culture that shape dreamlike biomorphic images of exuberant imagination. His work matured into a more schematic style in almost monochrome tones, constantly searching for his own language of their land.

Obra de Wilfredo Lam.

 

Bosco Sodi Mexican painter who moves between Barcelona, New York and Mexico. Sodi's work achieves a rich pictorial material textures, inspired perhaps in the informality of Tàpies but including excellent color illustrations following the track of the experiences of a strong conceptual character of Kandinsky and Malevich, without losing color planes we refer to the works of Rothko.
Jaume Vidal in the catalog of his exhibition in Barcelona Art gallery Shatevín commented in relation to his work: "... Bosco Sodi continues reflection of those artists of Informel and Abstract Expressionism, deep artists, visionaries, artists that illuminate the underground life of things. "
Obra de Bosco Sodi.

 

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.