Art Madrid'25 – The Revolution of Marcel Dzama

Marcel Dzama, “Welcome to the land of the drone”, 2011.

 

 

La Casa Encendida dedicates to this exhibition three showrooms where the artworks are displayed according to their technique and subject-matter. Though Dzama is a multidisciplinary creator that has recently enlarged his field of experimentation up to include sculpture or video, he has always stood out as a great drawing-maker. His artworks were used several times to illustrate the covers of music albums such as They Might Be Giants, Beck, and The Weakerthans. In this occasion, the exhibition comprises a representative sample of drawings, watercolours and inks, to which the major part of the space is devoted; but it also incorporates sculptures and a video projection. All these pieces together allow to better know the career of this author and going deeper into the setting of his creative universe.

 

 

Marcel Dzama, “Daily lady daily mail”, 2016.

 

 

Dzama was born in Winnipeg, Canada, although he currently works and lives in New York, where he made the majority of his solo exhibitions. He has been compared to the outsider artist Henry Darger, due to the similarity between both of them in the illustration artworks. However, Dzama feeds himself of various trends, like the Dadaism, the Surrealism or the Soviet agitprop to inspire his projects.

 

 

Marcel Dzama, “My mother, my father, my sister, my killer, my lover, my savior, and other faces I once knew”.

 

 

The title of the exhibition refers to the line of work that Dzama has been following more recently, where the influence of the Soviet aesthetics is clear. The illustrations remember the classical compositions of the propaganda posters, with the addition of elements linked to the revolutionary spirit: characters holding weapons wearing army uniforms and the recourse to softer colours.

The exhibition opens the 28th of September and will be on show until next January.
 

At the most recent edition of Art Madrid, artist Luis Olaso (Bilbao, 1986), represented by Kur Art Gallery (San Sebastián), received the Residency Prize of the Art Madrid Patronage Program. This award, the result of a collaboration between Art Madrid, DOM Art Residence, and the Italian association ExtrArtis, enabled him to undertake an artistic residency in Sorrento (Italy) in August 2025.

Through initiatives like this, the fair reaffirms its support for contemporary creation—a commitment aimed at increasing artists’ visibility and strengthening art collecting through concrete actions such as acquisition prizes, recognition of emerging talents, and international residencies.


Artists in Residence. DOM & ExtrArtis. Image courtesy of Agata D’Esposito.


The DOM & ExtrArtis 2025 Residency Program took place in Sorrento from August 1 to 31, 2025. The artists lived together at Relais La Rupe, a 16th-century villa surrounded by cliffs and centuries-old gardens, which became an ideal setting for experimentation and exchange.

In this edition, residents worked around the theme “Reimagining Genius Loci”, an invitation to reflect on how the movement of people and traditions transforms the “spirit of place.” During the residency, DOM organized two public group exhibitions: the first to present the artists’ previous work, and the second to showcase the projects developed in Sorrento.


Work by Luis Olaso. DOM & ExtrArtis. Image courtesy of Agata D’Esposito.


Luis Olaso’s work moves between expressionist figuration and abstraction, always employing a pictorial language charged with strength and emotion. Initially self-taught, he later graduated in Fine Arts and has developed a solid international career, with exhibitions at venues including JD Malat (London) and Makasiini Contemporary (Turku, Finland), and participation in fairs such as Untitled Miami, Estampa, and Art Madrid itself.

His work is part of prestigious collections, including the Tokyo Contemporary Art Foundation, Fundación SIMCO, and the Provincial Council of Bizkaia, and has been recognized in competitions such as the Reina Sofía Prize for Painting and Sculpture and the Ibercaja Young Painting Prize.

In Sorrento, Olaso found a unique context to expand his pictorial research, engaging in dialogue with the Mediterranean landscape and the region’s historical heritage. The residency provided him with time, resources, and a framework for exchange with other international artists, fostering the production of new works that were later presented in the group exhibitions organized by DOM.


Luis Olaso working on his project. DOM & ExtrArtis. Image courtesy of DOM.

Luis Olaso’s experience at DOM Art Residence concluded with a public showcase of the works produced, reinforcing his presence on the international circuit and consolidating his position as one of the most prominent Basque artists on the contemporary scene.


Through initiatives such as this, Art Madrid demonstrates its active role as a platform for direct support of contemporary creation, creating opportunities for research, production, and intercultural dialogue that extend beyond the fair itself and accompany artists in their professional development.