"It is essential that artist and curator walk hand in hand, it’s the most exciting part of this work."

The curator and independent art critic Nerea Ubieto takes over from the ONE PROJECT Program of Art Madrid'19. Fresh air and a personal and philosophical narrative to enrich this "showcase of young talents".

For those who don’t know yet what an art curator does and what its role is, could you tell us in your words what you do and what is the function of a curator?

A curator is a connector of aesthetic ideas, a mediator in the broadest and most positive sense of the word: he establishes links between artists and the public, the artwork and space, between the pieces that are part of an exhibition, between the discourse of the artists and other possible speeches... I used to like the definition of the curator as an "ideologist of an exhibition" because it emphasises the reflexive question as opposed to the purely practical, something like a visual philosopher. However, nowadays I find it a bit pretentious and short. The discourse is necessarily forged from the conversations and the exchange with the female artists, therefore, they also "think" the exhibition. It is essential that artist and curator walk hand in hand, it’s the most exciting part of this work. On the other hand, the exhibition is not the only format to channel these artistic connections; there are other ways, visible and invisible. I believe that, currently, reinventing these formats and strategies is a primary task. We have to rethink our function a lot, broaden horizons of action, mix and open ourselves in collaborative ways.

  Thinking about the public that visits an art fair or an exhibition… what does this curated perspective provide?

Reaching an audience - of all kinds - is very important the way I understand the curatorial practice. I want to believe that the curated perspective has a lot to offer, first of all, a new look regarding the relationships that may occur between the proposed works. This vision facilitates - but does not make it easy - that the spectator establishes its own interconnections. The curatorial context, extensive reading and, why not, generates an attractive speech that can serve as a hook for an audience that otherwise would not have approached certain speeches. In my opinion, the curated perspective should bring the viewer closer. I try not to lose sight of this and imagine what my parents would think when they come to the exhibition.

“A curator is a connector of aesthetic ideas, a mediator in the broadest and most positive sense of the word: he establishes links between artists and the public, the artwork and space, between the pieces that are part of an exhibition, between the discourse of the artists and other possible speeches”.

  The "discourse" is the great contemporary theme... Do you have a discursive fetish? What topics interest you?

I'm not usually closed to anything because, even the topics that interest me less at the beginning, pose a challenge and involve unforeseen learning, but yes, I have preferences... In my projects, I usually work with philosophical bias, especially the personal identity understood in a broad way, from the recesses of nineteenth-century interiority to digital exteriority. Problems around feminism, queer, expanded corporalities, sensory experience, new materialisms, phenomenology... it's very difficult to define, I am passionate about many subjects!

  It must be complicated to get a reflexive pause before a work in these days of continuous news, haste and oversaturation of images ... How do you do it /try it?

Yes, it’s tremendously difficult, even more if you have a mind that doesn’t rest... I get it by forcing me to stop, specifically through yoga, practice to which I try to dedicate a time every day.

  What is the role of fairs on the stage of contemporary art?

Serve as a showcase, take the pulse of current art, promote the work of artists and, of course, sell it!

“In my projects, I usually work with philosophical bias, especially the personal identity understood in a broad way, from the recesses of nineteenth-century interiority to digital exteriority”.

  How do you approach your incorporation to the Art Madrid team? What will you contribute to your program with?

With excitement, but also as a challenge. Curating within a fair is complicated because of undergoing factors that are beyond my control and go beyond the curatorial work: the commercial part, the competition between the fairs, prejudices, fears... I’m aware that dealing with all this is tricky.

I will contribute giving the best of me, presenting interesting proposals and betting on a project 100% female artists. The goal is to radically balance a percentage that has never been on our side. Also, I think the selection is going to happen naturally since the vast majority of artists I've worked with this year are women.

  How do you understand the ONE PROJECT Program and how do you value the work of Carlos Delgado Mayordomo, the curator that you relieve?

I understand it as a necessary window and an opportunity for artists who are emerging and need a push. Beyond the possible sales and the visibility that a fair brings, being part of a curated program is a plus for the artist since it means going hand in hand with someone who believes and bets for her work. Also, my intention is to work with these artists outside the fair. With regard to Carlos, I can only assess in positive: I admire his curatorial work in general and the work he has done with the One Project during these 5 years, despite the difficulty. I hope to be up to the task.

  BIO NEREA UBIETO:

Zaragoza, 1984. Graduated in Art History from the University of Zaragoza, she works as an independent curator, manager and critic in various art publications. Among her last exhibitions they stand out: "Return Flight Tickets" in the gallery Max Star (Madrid); "The invisible threat" in Sala Amadis (Madrid); "The place where I live" in Galería Ponce Robles (Madrid) or "Keep calm and carry on", inaugurated in Tabacalera Madrid and itinerant by the AECID Cultural Centers Network in Latin America. She has recently been selected in the 2017 V.O. of curator of Valencia with her project "Artfulness" that will take place during September 2018. Among the awards and grants received are: the Residence Scholarship abroad of the Community of Madrid, developed in HIAP-Helsinki International Artist Program (2016); the International Award Exhibition of the CPR (2016), or the international residency Curatorial Program of Research in Estonia and Finland (2015). She is a regular contributor to the cultural television program Metropolis. She combines her work as an independent curator with cultural management, teaching and other projects in the artistic field.

The work of Julian Manzelli (Chu) (Buenos Aires, Argentina, 1974) is situated within a field of research in which art adopts methodologies close to scientific thinking without renouncing its poetic and speculative dimension. His practice is structured as an open process of experimentation, in which the studio functions as a laboratory: a space for trial, error, and verification, oriented less toward the attainment of certainties than toward the production of new forms of perception. In this sense, his work enters into dialogue with an epistemology of uncertainty, akin to philosophical traditions that understand knowledge as a process of becoming rather than closure.

Manzelli explores interstitial zones, understood as spaces of transit and transformation. These ambiguous areas are not presented as undefined but as potential—sites where categories dissolve, allowing the emergence of hybrid, almost alchemical configurations that reprogram the gaze. Geometry, far from operating as a normative system, appears tense and destabilized. His precarious constructions articulate a crossing between intuition and reason, play and engineering, evoking a universal grammar present in both nature and symbolic thought. Thus, Manzelli’s works do not represent the world but rather transfigure it, activating questions rather than offering closed answers.

Avícola. Escultura magnética. Madera, imanes, laca automotriz y acero. 45 x 25 cm. 2022.

Science and its methods inspire your process. What kinds of parallels do you find between scientific thinking and artistic creation?

Science and art are two disciplines that I believe share a great deal and are undoubtedly deeply interconnected. I am interested in that point of intersection, and although they are often placed in opposition, I think they share a common origin. Both involve a continuous search, a need for answers that stems from curiosity rather than certainty, and that often—or in many cases—leads both artists and scientists into uncomfortable, uncertain positions, pushing them out of their comfort zones. I believe this is a fundamental and very compelling aspect shared by these two disciplines, which in some way define us as human beings.

In this sense, both share experimentation as a core axis of their practice. Trial and error, testing, and the entire process of experimentation are what generate development. In my case, this applies directly to the studio: I experience it as a laboratory where different projects are developed and materials are tested. It is as if one formulates a hypothesis and then puts it to the test—materials, procedures, forms, colors—and outcomes emerge. These results are not meant to be verified, but rather, in art, I believe their function is to generate new modes of perception, new ways of seeing, and new experiences.

Receptor Lunar #01. Ensamble de Madera Reciclada torneada. 102 x 26 x 26 cm. De la serie Fuerza orgánica. 2023.

You work within the interstices between the natural and the artificial, the figurative and the abstract. What interests you about these ambiguous zones, and what kinds of knowledge emerge from them?

I have always been quite restless, and that has led me to immerse myself in different fields and disciplines. I believe there is a special richness in interstitial spaces—in movement back and forth, in circulation between media. These spaces have always drawn my attention: ambiguous places, hybrid zones. There is something of an amphibious logic here—amphibians as entities that carry and transmit information, that share, that cross boundaries and membranes. In my case, this is closely linked to what I understand as freedom, especially at a time marked by categorization, labeling, and a profound distortion of the very concept of freedom.

On another level, more metaphysical in nature, it is within the mixture—within that blending—that the living energy of creating something new appears, which is undoubtedly a fundamental aspect of what it means to be human. It is as if “one thing becomes something else outside the mold.” This interaction is necessary to break structures, to build new ones, to transmute—to undergo something almost alchemical. I believe fixation is the enemy. In a way, ambiguity is what allows us to reprogram our gaze and generate new points of view.

De la serie Naturaleza orgánica. Madera torneada recuperada de podas de sequía y rezagos de construcción. 2025.

Movement, repetition, and sequence appear as visual strategies in your work. What role does seriality play in the generation of meaning?

Movement, repetition, and sequence are very present in my work. I have a long background in animation, and in some way that interest begins to filter into the other disciplines in which I work. Thus, movement also appears in my visual art practice.

Seriality is a way of thinking about time and of introducing a certain narrative and sense of action into the work, while at the same time conditioning the viewer’s experience. It invites the viewer to try to decipher repetition as a kind of progression. I am particularly interested in more abstract forms of narrative. In this type of narrative, where there is no clear figuration, repetition begins to establish a pulse, a “beat” that marks the passage of time. What is interesting, I think, is the realization that repetition is not exactly duplication, and that what seems identical begins to mutate over time, through rhythm, or through its own unfolding history.

De la serie Naturaleza orgánica. Madera torneada recuperada de podas de sequía y rezagos de construcción. 2025.

You work with geometric and constructive systems. What role does geometry play as a symbolic language within your practice?

Geometry is present in my work in multiple forms and dimensions, generating different dynamics. Generally, I tend to put it into crisis, into tension. When one engages closely with my works, it becomes clear that constructions based on imprecise and unstable balance predominate. I am not interested in symmetry or exactness, but rather in a dynamic construction that proposes a situation. I do not conceive of geometry as a rigid system.

I believe this is where a bridge is established between the intuitive and the rational, between playfulness and engineering—those unexpected crossings. At the same time, geometry functions as a code, a language that connects us to a universal grammar present in nature, in fractals, and that undoubtedly refers to symbolism. It is there that an interesting portal opens, where the work begins to re-signify itself and becomes a process of meaning-making external to itself, entirely uncertain. The results of my works are not pieces that represent; rather, I believe they are pieces that transfigure and, in doing so, generate questions.

WIP. Madera torneada recuperada de podas de sequía y rezagos de contrucción. 2022.

To what extent do you plan your works, and how much space do you leave for the unexpected—or even for error?

In terms of planning, it depends greatly on the project and even on the day. Some projects, due to their scale or complexity, require careful planning, especially when they involve the participation of other people. In many cases, planning is undoubtedly essential.

That said, in the projects I do plan, I am always interested in leaving space for improvisation, where chance or the unfolding of the process itself can come into play. I believe this is where interesting things begin to emerge, and it is important not to let them pass by. Personally, I would find it very boring to work on pieces whose outcome I already know in advance. For me, the realization of each work is an uncertain journey; I do not know where it will lead, and I believe that is where its potential lies—not only for me, but also for the work itself and for the viewer’s experience.