For another edition, Natalia Alonso Arduengo (Madrid, 1984) will be the curator in charge of carrying out the program, which will revolve around the theme of IDENTITY, taking as its starting point the verses of the poem Otherness by Mario Benedetti:

They always advised me to be someone else / and they even suggested that I had / notorious qualities to be someone else / that's why my future was in otherness the only problem has always been / my congenital stubbornness / I foolishly didn't want to be someone else / therefore I continued to be someone else same.

Otherness. Mario Benedetti.

The concept of identity will be analyzed in a contemporaneity marked by alienation, the uses of technologies and the keys of gender, class and race. How do we see ourselves? What image do we project? Who do we want to be? What social conventions impose a particular way of being in the world? Can we generate a new conception of the self?

Art Madrid'23 Curated Program will be dedicated to young artists as a platform for visibility during Madrid Art Week, an event par excellence for contemporary art at a national level. It is proposed as institutional support from the fair to allow four creators the possibility to show their projects in an event and commercial space such as an art fair. Will be articulated with an installation by the artist Dela Delos (Oviedo, 1992), an installation painting by Lorena Gutiérrez (Havana 1987) and two performances that will take place during the days of the fair; the performers are Agnes Essonti (Barcelona 1996) and Alexia Sayago (Madrid. 1995). Over the next few weeks, we will discover more in-depth the works and performances of these four creators.

On the other hand, to relate the program with the proposal of the participating galleries, it is proposed to continue with the curated tour. This tour starts from a selection of works from the stands of various exhibitors, forming an itinerary to follow under the curated speech of the edition. An itinerary from the concept of "identity" will guide us through the fair, reflecting on various issues: How do we see ourselves? Who do we want to be? What image do we project? What social conventions impose a particular way of being in the world? Is our identity as clear as we think, or is it constantly reformulated throughout our lives?

Artists and galleries on the tour: Raquel Algaba from the Arancha Osoro Gallery; Roger Sanguino of DDR Art Gallery; Federico Granell from the Metro Gallery; Jorge Hernández from the Aurora Vigil-Escalera Gallery; Carsten Brauer from the Uxval Gochez Gallery; Chamo San from the N2 Gallery; Dr.Robot Gallery's Costa Gorel; Oliver Okolo of OOA Gallery; Jordi Díaz Alamá from Inéditat Galería; and Xurxo Gómez-Chao from Moret Art.

ABIERTO INFINITO. LO QUE EL CUERPO RECUERDA. CICLO DE PERFORMANCE X ART MADRID'26

Art Madrid, committed to creating a discursive platform for artists working within the field of performance and action art, presents Abierto Infinito: lo que el cuerpo recuerda, a proposal inspired by Erving Goffman’s ideas in The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life (Amorrortu Editores, Buenos Aires, 1997).

The project unfolds within a theoretical framework that directly engages with these premises, conceiving social interaction as a stage of carefully modulated performances designed to influence others’ perceptions. Goffman argues that individuals deploy both verbal and involuntary expressions to guide the interpretation of their behavior, sustaining roles and façades that define the situation for those who observe.

The body — the first territory of all representation — precedes both word and learned gesture. Human experience, conscious and unconscious alike, is inscribed within it. Abierto Infinito: lo que el cuerpo recuerda departs from this premise: representation inhabits existence itself, and life, understood as a succession of representations, transforms the body into a space of constant negotiation over who we are. In this passage, boundaries blur; the individual opens toward the collective, and the ephemeral acquires symbolic dimension. By inhabiting this interstice, performance simultaneously reveals the fragility of identity and the strength that emerges from encounter with others.

PERFORMANCE: OFF LINE. JIMENA TERCERO

March 7 | 7:00 p.m. Galería de Cristal of the Palacio de Cibeles.

OFF LINE is a performance piece that reflects on the fragility of the body in the digital age. Our relationship with the outside world is mediated by a screen, which distances us further and further from physical contact and interpersonal relationships. Focusing on creating a digital identity causes the body to distance itself from the physical world and lose its memory.

Hyperconnectivity and fragmented attention lead to a more passive physical existence, characterised by reduced spontaneous movement and less direct sensory interaction. This raises fundamental questions: how is the concept of presence redefined when our relationship with the world relies on technological mediation? What will the experience of the body be like in a future where virtuality predominates over the physical? There is a risk of progressive bodily passivity: bodies that remain still, whose activity is determined by devices and whose memory is stored digitally. The fragmentation of physical experience and the primacy of technological representation create a scenario in which, although the body is visible, it is displaced from its original function as an agent of perception and action.

This conceptual framework invites reflection on the impact of digitisation on corporeality, memory and social relationships, and on the vulnerability and inertia experienced by bodies in environments that are increasingly mediated by technology.

ABOUT JIMENA TERCERO

Jimena Tercero (Madrid, 1998) is a multidisciplinary artist whose work explores the boundaries of the female body, identity, and the subconscious. She uses performance, video, and painting to address concepts such as memory, tangibility, and play. Tercero trained in painting with Lola Albín and in analog photography at Cambridge in 2014. She studied audiovisual direction from 2018 to 2020 with renowned figures such as Víctor Erice and the production company El Deseo. She is currently pursuing a Master's degree in Creative Direction at ELISAVA. She completed her performance training at La Juan Gallery. In 2011, she was part of the children's jury at the Isfahan Film Festival in Iran.

Her directed works include Private (2016) and Paranoid (2021), which were exhibited at the Aspa Contemporary Gallery. She has also worked on projects such as Yo, mi, me, conmigo (2023, Teatros del Canal), Inside Voices (2021, Conde Duque with Itziar Okariz), and La última regla (La Juan Gallery). She has directed fashion films for publishers and brands such as Puma, Dior, and Dockers. She has also provided art direction for artists such as Sen Senra and Jorge Drexler. Additionally, she directed the documentary Also Here for ArtforChange–La Caixa. She presented Out of View (Nebula Gallery), EDEN (White Lab Gallery), and Navel Bite (Sinespacio). She participates in residencies such as Medialab with Niño de Elche and Miguel Álvarez Fernández. In 2025, she will be part of the Special Jury of the Asian Film Fest in Barcelona and the International Cultural Museum of Assilah Art Residency in Morocco).