Lecturas: Curated Walkthroughs X Art Madrid.

LECTURAS CURATED WALKTHROUGHS X ART MADRID

Lecturas: Curated Walkthroughs X Art Madrid is one of the initiatives that are part of the Parallel Program of the 19th edition of Art Madrid. And it is possible thanks to the collaboration of ONE SHOT HOTELS, one of the official sponsors of Art Madrid'24.

For the occasion, we have invited the cultural mediator Eugenia Tenenbaum and the curator Óscar Manrique to accompany the exhibition proposals of this edition; from their places of enunciation, both curators propose two thematic routes that dialogue on the reality of our social context. The curators have selected a group of works from the wide range of artistic proposals that will be presented in this edition, in order to question, from a critical perspective, how alternative discourses can be built around the issues that permeate the invisible line that separates art and life.

The purpose of Lecturas: Curated Walkthroughs X Art Madrid is to explore contemporary creation as a tool to generate new meanings about the art produced in our context. Each curator has raised a group of questions that serve as a common thread to bring the public closer to manifestations such as painting; or to question the frictions and tensions that can occur between some pieces and others, and how we can connect these sometimes "invisible" relationships in the work of the artists who are part of both itineraries.

The curated walkthroughs will allow participants to approach different artistic styles and perspectives, to recognize the languages with which contemporary art operates in the context of an art fair, and to participate in a mediation initiative that proposes to activate the aesthetic experience transcending mere contemplation.

Approaching art is not only about observing, but also about understanding and connecting with the emotions that the works evoke. With this objective in mind, we propose two thematic itineraries that move away from traditional itineraries and focus on the depth of meaning and narrative behind each work, creating an enriching experience for the public attending Art Madrid'24.

TENSIONS AND FRICTIONS IN THE HISTORY OF ART. A CURATED WALKTHROUGH BY EUGENIA TENENBAUM

What are the tensions that exist in Art History and in the spaces that inhabit it? In the tour curated by art historian Eugenia Tenenbaum, the notions of "friction" and "tension" are materialized in the possible conversations that can be held between artist and work, spectator and space, art and market. Tensions sometimes of an identitary nature, others of a formal and some of a political nature, this tour aims to open a space for dialogue and reflection on the possibilities of the art market to adjust to the passage of time, to the needs of the population and to the social debates that point to a more just, diverse and inclusive future.

ABOUT EUGENIA TENENBAUM

Art historian specialized in gender perspective, Eugenia Tenenbaum is dedicated to cultural diffusion and art criticism in social networks, mainly Instagram and Patreon. As a communicator, she also works as a guide, lecturer and workshop leader on art, feminisms and the impact of gender relations on the creation, reception and dissemination of artistic production in congresses, universities, institutes, museums and other spaces. In 2022 she published her first book, "La mirada inquieta", an essay on art, and in April 2023 her first work of fiction, "Las mujeres detrás de Picasso".

Eugenia Tenenbaum.

AFTER A SUPPOSED PAINTING CRISIS. A CURATED WALKTHROUGH BY ÓSCAR MANRIQUE

Our visual reality is plagued by images that are born, develop and die at a dizzying speed, as we perceive life through screens in which a multitude of meanings are agglomerated in an almost aberrant manner. Painting today has to deal with this "pantallocracy", it has to fight its own battle against this visual monotony, and the answers are as varied as they are stimulating. Much has been said about the crisis of painting that this situation has caused, along with the preference of museums and institutions for other solutions that move away from the canvas in the search for more innovative and political proposals; however, the pictorial fact is still not exhausted, the fairs continue to claim painting and language can continue to surprise us despite being "out of fashion", a fact that in my opinion has been imposed, because as we see in fairs like Art Madrid, painting remains. To this purpose, the tour proposed by Oscar Manrique will analyze the various pictorial solutions born of the desire to renew the discipline, from an expanded painting where traditional formats evolve to other, not so conventional ones, the new figurations influenced by television and the mass media, to others that try to compete with the photographic image or resort to resources as old as trompe l'oeil to dignify human technique before the machine.

ABOUT ÓSCAR MANRIQUE

Independent curator, critic and art historian specialized in visual studies. His research focuses on an anthropology of the image, studying the metamorphoses that images can undergo in the contemporary world. He also works from an archeology of the present, interested in speaking from the residual, the everyday, or the kitsch; and ultimately from everything that historiography has discarded and that now serves to establish new and diverse readings, especially those that foresee ways to look to the future. He works from an ecology of images, with references to all kinds of culture - plastic, literary, cinematographic, musical... - which leads him to be a faithful defender of current discourses on aesthetics, understanding it as a social construction of visual experience that defends ocular desire as a defining element of being. Since 2023 he directs the curatorial branch of the Ginsberg + TZU gallery (Madrid-Lima), inspired by the ability of art to build bridges and bring borders closer, turning the project into a platform where artists, both emerging and established, can continue to create freely, expanding discourses and presenting new ideas.

Óscar Manrique.

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).