Looking back, eighteen years is a vast and fleeting period. A time in which Art Madrid has been building its path as a reference event for the visual arts and the market in Spain and Europe. The appointment every February, in Casa de Campo or Palacio de Cristal de Cibeles, has been adding to its history, a repertoire of galleries and artists that during these years have evolved along with the event.

Pause: A pandemic, uncertainty, and the reunion with the "unmentionable party" of art have also been part of the life of the fair.

Art Madrid has demonstrated its commitment to contemporary art, its managers, and its leading makers in each edition. That is why every year, hand in hand with its advisory committee, the quality of the exhibition proposals and the desire for the fair to become a commitment to the future, speaks of the rigor in the selection of galleries and the quality of the works. That can be appreciated at the appointment.

In 2023 Art Madrid comes of age. A stadium in which it begins to be aware of the impact produced by his presence in Madrid's art week. And a moment to reflect on the path that remains to be traveled. Its mission: to continue being a disruptive and daring scene. Its bet: is to strengthen its role as a living showcase for contemporary art produced inside and outside the peninsula.

Remy Samuz, ‘Liberté’, 2018

In this journey that reaches its eighteenth edition, thirty-six galleries will attend the event to show the recent works of the more than one hundred and sixty artists who share space in the glass gallery. It is worth noting the presence of manifestations, such as painting, sculpture, photography, and drawing, always protagonists in the projects with which the galleries endorse their trajectory and that of the creators they represent. However, the performance and the installation will have a notable presence within the Curating Program, which for the third time, comes from the curator and art critic Natalia Alonso Arduengo. And that focuses on Identity as a category of analysis and starting point for questioning and aesthetic production. The narrative of this edition will also be accompanied by the Interview Program directed by the theoretician and curator Alfonso de la Torre, an erudite window that opens to the public to promote an approach to the eight most outstanding artists of ArtMadrid'23.

The return to the eighteenth sun of our house is a reason to celebrate. And we will do it again with the Acquisition Awards, the Collectors Program, and the consistently accurate advice from our Art Advisor Ana Suárez Gisbert. Thus, we invite collectors and the general public to look with the eyes of desire at the works the galleries will display in their spaces—an unrepeatable opportunity to enter the deep world of collecting.

This year's contemporary art event returns renewed, betting on new gallery models, inaugurating reception platforms so that young voices find their place in the current scenario, and interested in bringing new audiences closer to the project. Aware of the role that Art Madrid plays as an event that is due to the galleries and deals with finding a market niche for young and mid-term creators, we insist on the need to build unprejudiced visibility spaces and call attention to the urgency to professionalize artistic practices within the national and international circuit. It seems like a great responsibility. It is. And to bring Art Madrid's commitment to fruition, we have always surrounded ourselves with professionals and institutions that have accompanied us on this journey. They have all been building the itinerary today as a preamble to give thanks and celebrate our coming of age: An "unmentionable party" that has only just begun.

From July 7 to 9, 2025, the Balsera Palace will host the First Course on Collecting and Contemporary Art, an intensive 15-hour program that will explore the complex and fundamental question of taste in contemporary art. Organized by the Nebrija Institute of Arts and Humanities at Nebrija University and the Avilés City Council, in collaboration with 9915 — Association of Private Collectors of Contemporary Art and the Institute of Contemporary Art, the course offers a unique opportunity for analysis and debate on the dynamics that shape aesthetic and symbolic value in today’s art scene.

First Course on Collecting and Contemporary Art. Avilés, Asturias

The notion of taste, intrinsically tied to aesthetic judgments and power relations, has played a decisive role in the historical prominence of artists and artworks. However, contemporary art—marked by its breaking of conventions, diversity of media and techniques, and critical stance toward traditional canons—raises fundamental questions about the continued relevance of this concept.

This course will explore how the decisions made by key players in the art system—institutions, private collections, galleries, curators, and artists—continually redefine a field of taste shaped by aesthetic, symbolic, cultural, social, and political logics.

"¿But does it exist, and what is the prevailing taste of our time—so seemingly confused, fragmented, indecipherable?" - Omar Calabrese, The Neo-Baroque Era.

The academic program, directed by José Luis Guijarro Alonso, Director of the Master’s in Art Market and Related Business Management at Nebrija University, and Pablo Álvarez de Toledo, Head of the Department of Arts at Nebrija University and the Nebrija Institute of Arts and Humanities, will bring together a distinguished group of national experts—including collectors, critics, curators, gallery owners, and artists—whose contributions will address key issues in shaping aesthetic, symbolic, and market value in today’s art world.

PROGRAM

MONDAY, JULY 7

9:30 AM Registration.

10:00 AM Course Opening Nebrija University Avilés City Council Presented by Rosario López Meras – President of the Association of Contemporary Art Collectors, 9915, and Adrián Piera – President of the ICA, Institute of Contemporary Art.

10:30 AM Course Presentation By José Luis Guijarro Alonso – Art Historian and Anthropologist, Researcher, and Director of the Master’s in Art Market and Related Business Management at Nebrija University.

11:00 AM Coffee Break.

11:30 AM Panel Discussion The Taste of Private Collecting as a Prelude to History. Speakers: Candela Álvarez Soldevilla – Entrepreneur and Collector; Javier Quilis – INELCOM Collection; José Miguel Vegas Valle – Collector. Moderator: Luis Feás – Critic and Curator.

1:00 PM Lunch Break.

3:30 PM Individual Lecture On Good Taste in Contemporary Art. Speaker: Marisol Salanova – Curator and Art Critic, Director of Arteinformado.

4:45 PM Panel Discussion The Influence of Galleries in Shaping Contemporary Taste. Speakers: Elba Benítez – Gallerist; Ricardo Pernas – Gallerist (Arniches 26); Aurora Vigil-Escalera – Gallerist. Moderator: Rafael Martín – Coleccion@casamer.

6:00 PM End of Day.

6:30 PM Activity and Cocktail Visit to the Exhibition Asturian Artists in the Pérez Simón Collection – Avilés.

TUESDAY, JULY 8

10:00 AM Individual Lecture Contemporary (Bad) Taste: Kitsch, Camp, and Tacky. Speaker: Julio Pérez Manzanares – Autonomous University of Madrid.

11:00 AM Coffee Break.

11:30 AM Panel Discussion Institutions and the Formation of Contemporary Taste. Speakers: Virginia López – Artist, Founder of PACA_Proyectos Artísticos Casa Antonino; Julieta de Haro – Artistic Director of CentroCentro; Carlos Urroz – Director of Institutional Relations, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía. Moderator: Laura Gutiérrez – Director, School of Art of Oviedo.

1:00 PM Lunch Break.

3:30 PM Panel Discussion Beyond the Eye: The Taste for Ethical, Ecological, Social, or Political Concerns in Contemporary Art. Speakers: Semíramis González – Independent Curator; Eugenio Ampudia – Artist; Claudia Rodríguez-Ponga – Independent Curator. Moderator: Bárbara Mur Borrás – PhD in Fine Arts.

5:00 PM End of Day.

5:30 PM Activity Visit to the Studiolo Exhibition – Candela Álvarez Soldevilla Collection.

WEDNESDAY, JULY 9

9:30 AM Meeting with Asturian Artists Speakers: María Castellanos – Artist; Avelino Sala – Artist; Consuelo Vallina – Artist. Moderator: Pablo Álvarez de Toledo – Nebrija University.

11:00 AM Activity Visit to the Niemeyer Center – Avilés.

Course Closing Ceremony.

This course is designed for art professionals, collectors, researchers, and students seeking an in-depth analysis of the dynamics that shape taste and collecting practices in contemporary art. Adopting a critical and multidisciplinary perspective, it provides a unique opportunity to rigorously examine the aesthetic, symbolic, and structural factors that underpin the legitimization of contemporary art.