THE ART MADRID PATRONAGE PROGRAM IS LAUNCHED

This year, Art Madrid reinforces its support for artistic creation through its Patronage Program. This initiative aims to give greater visibility to artists and strengthen collecting through three lines of action: Acquisition Awards, Emerging Artist Award, and Residency Award.

Acquisition Awards

Three entities —Colección Studiolo, Colección E2IN2, and Devesa Law— reinforce their commitment to contemporary art by acquiring works from artists represented at the fair. Their determination not only contributes to the promotion of art but also fosters the growth of artists and strengthens the collecting ecosystem.

These types of initiatives are essential for ensuring the continuity and growth of creators. Thanks to these acquisition awards, the selected works will become part of important private collections, guaranteeing their preservation and dissemination within the artistic circuit.

Emerging Artist Award

Supporting young talent is another fundamental pillar. The hotel chain One Shot, in addition to sponsoring the One Shot Collectors program, awards a cash prize to an emerging artist who stands out for their innovative proposal at the fair.

This prize represents a key opportunity for artists in the process of consolidation, helping support their professional development and providing financial backing to allow them to continue exploring new avenues in their artistic production. Through this initiative, One Shot strengthens its commitment to art and the promotion of new voices in the contemporary art scene.

Residency Award

As part of the Patronage Program, Art Madrid and DOM Art Residence, in collaboration with ExtrArtis, have designed an artist residency program that will take place in Sorrento, Italy, during August 2025.

With these three initiatives, Art Madrid's Patronage Program positions itself as a platform for direct support of artistic creation, providing access to resources, visibility, and key opportunities for artists.

About Colección Studiolo

Colección Studiolo is a contemporary art collection that focuses on supporting and promoting emerging and established artists. The collection, known for its commitment to artistic innovation, plays a key role in enhancing the visibility of contemporary art. As part of the 20th edition of Art Madrid, which will take place from March 5 to 9 at the Galería de Cristal of the Palacio de Cibeles, Colección Studiolo, in its important role of supporting contemporary art and its commitment to promoting collecting, joins Art Madrid's Patronage Program.

About Colección E2IN2

E2IN2 is an organization that participates in projects generating high economic and social added value. E2IN2 supports artistic talent and is currently seeking collaborators to exhibit works from its art collection.

About Devesa Law

Devesa is a national law firm specializing in business law. Our mission is to add value to companies, investors, and institutions operating in Spain through excellent legal and tax services. Founded in 2007, our organization currently has offices in Madrid, Alicante, and Valencia, from which we provide services across the entire country.

About One Shot

One Shot Hotels is a boutique hotel chain that focuses on design, creativity, and prime locations in cities such as Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Seville, San Sebastián, and Porto. Since its founding in 2013, the brand has built a unique identity where art, culture, and beauty are an essential part of the guest experience. Each of its hotels is designed to be much more than just accommodation: they are spaces with soul, where aesthetics and artistic sensitivity are integrated into every detail.

In line with this commitment, One Shot Hotels returns as a sponsor of Art Madrid, reaffirming its support for artistic creation in all its forms. The chain views art as a universal language that connects people and transforms spaces, and this philosophy is reflected in the design of its hotels, the selection of its furniture, and the arrangement of its environments. Creativity and inspiration are experienced in every corner, offering guests an experience that goes beyond the conventional.

About DOM Art Residence

DOM Art Residence is a hybrid project that combines a nomadic artist residency, a contemporary art group exhibition, and an online gallery featuring works by resident artists.

The Art Madrid Patronage Program aims to strengthen the contemporary art ecosystem and offer both artists and collectors the opportunity to actively participate in the development and dissemination of new ways to build an ecosystem for the preservation of artworks and the strengthening of collecting.

The artistic practice of Chamo San (Barcelona, 1987) revolves around a poetics of attention, in which the seemingly insignificant acquires a singular reflective intensity. His works emerge from a persistent observation of everyday life, understood not as a narrative repertoire but as a field of shared experience. Within this framework, the minimal gesture becomes a form of sensitive knowledge, placing the viewer before scenes that are both recognizable and, at the same time, estranged by their temporal suspension.

The progressive shift toward a more atmospheric painting has allowed the environment to cease functioning as a mere support and become an active agent of meaning. Restrained color ranges and carefully constructed spaces generate a sense of stillness that evokes a pictorial tradition attentive to duration and waiting. The human figure—a constant presence in his work—is presented immersed in contexts that amplify its affective and existential dimension.

The silence permeating these images is not absence but condition; it constitutes a space of resonance in which the time of doing and the time of looking converge. Situated between compositional control and openness to the contingent, Chamo San’s work affirms painting as a territory where planning and accident coexist.

Bathtub. 2018. Ballpoint pen on notebook. 14 x 18 cm.

Many of your works show meticulous attention to the smallest gestures and seemingly trivial moments. What interests you about these micro-choreographies of everyday life?

The seed of my work always comes from the sketches I make from life in small notebooks that I can carry with me at all times. Later, I either transfer them to another format so I can work on them more calmly, or they become the final piece in themselves.

Composition, staging, and perhaps those micro-choreographies are what I allow myself to bring to the scene as an artist. For me, these everyday moments are the most direct and honest way to connect with the audience because—even though they are intimate—they reflect universal experiences.

Feet. 2023. Oil pastel on paper mounted on board. 30 x 30 cm.

In your pieces, the presence of sober tones seems to generate a particular type of atmosphere. How would you describe the way that atmosphere emerges during your work, and what role does it play in the overall construction of the image?

Atmosphere and colour are relatively recent additions to my work. Previously, I focused exclusively on the figures as the central element, and they were often left floating in a kind of void. It was when I realised the need to provide context—especially as I began working more closely from the notes in my notebooks—that I came to understand the importance of the environment for the character.

The human figure will always remain the main element for me, as it is through its representation that I find the greatest enjoyment. However, little by little, I have become interested in exploring what surrounds it. I see the creation of an environment and an atmosphere as essential in order to situate the figures within a more complete and fully constructed scene.

Mamant. 2025. Colored pencils on notebook. 14 x 18 cm.

Are the silences in your works inherited from real experiences, or do they emerge during the painting process?

The silences in my work are inherited from real experiences. When I capture those small moments of everyday life—which is essential for me—I tend to be focused and quiet. At the same time, I also believe that the contemplation of artworks naturally invites this kind of calm. In that sense, for a brief moment, both the artist—throughout the entire creative process—and the viewer, when engaging with the work, can meet in the same state of tranquillity and silence.

The Kiss. 2024. Oil pastel on notebook. 14 x 18 cm.

To what extent do you plan your works and how much space do you leave for the unexpected to happen?

Some of my works are very planned, even excessively so, with lots of sketches. On the other hand, I always have that starting point that appears in my notebooks, and I leave experimentation and the unexpected for the end. Although it's also true that when I've thrown myself into improvisation from the beginning, wonderful things have happened, so now I try to combine those two worlds as organically as possible.

Cinema. 2025. Ballpoint pen and oil pastel on notebook. 14 x 18 cm.

Although your work has shifted towards the pictorial—with an aesthetic closely linked to cinema—echoes of illustration can still be seen in your visual language. Which elements would you say remain, and which have undergone a radical transformation?

For me, illustration has been an intense learning process. I deeply admire artists who have combined commissioned illustration with studio work for galleries, such as Ramón Casas and James Jean. I believe these two worlds can connect on a technical level, but their language and purpose are fundamentally different.

The existence of a unique, original work allows for accidents to occur—things that are very unlikely to happen in illustration. It is this condition of uniqueness, and above all the intention behind it, that makes the two practices radically different.