Art Madrid'25 – WE ANALYZE THE EVOLUTION OF ART MADRID

Art Madrid celebrates this year its 15th anniversary with an edition that stands out for its dynamism and its festive character. With a unique proposal we celebrate years making a review and analysis of the evolution and development of the fair in recent editions. Expert personalities such as Carlos Delgado, curator and art critic, the artist Dionisio González, the gallery owner Aurora Vigil or the critic and curator Fernando Gómez de la Cuesta accompany us on this journey.

RLM

Avatar soldado, 2016

Tela sobre fibra de vidrio y resina

100 x 30cm

Andrés Planas

BigMac, 2015

Técnica mixta madera, plástico, pigmentos, pan de oro y restos biológicos humanos

40 x 23cm

One of the biggest commitments of the fair has been to help position and project the work of the artists in the art market. According to the curator and art critic Carlos Delgado, "Art Madrid covers and gives space to many artists who have achieved a visibility that otherwise they could not have. Both through the One Project program and the general program, Art Madrid has maintained and strengthened its commitment to supporting young artists and emerging creators who are in the process of consolidating their careers. The artist Dionisio González states that he has always seen this fair as an excellent showcase in which the works of the most outstanding artists of the current national and international scene have been displayed, so being part of the fair this year is gratifying.

Dionisio González

Inter-Acciones 12, 2019

Impresión digital en papel de algodón sobre dibond y enmarcado en madera lacada en blanco

55 x 55cm

Dionisio González

Inter-Acciones 22, 2019

Impresión digital en papel de algodón sobre dibond y enmarcado en madera lacada en blanco

55 x 55cm

Art Madrid's commitment to emerging creators also allows for the acquisition of works within a wide economic spectrum as varied prices can be found. In the words of Carlos Delgado, "Art Madrid is the ideal place to start collecting, as there are small and medium formats, graphic works..." The galleries participating in Art Madrid have an optimal price range to find high quality proposals at an affordable price, a perfect setting to start collecting with works by young artists who have not yet established themselves.

Likewise, support for emerging and mid-career creators requires galleries that bet on these artists. Some of these, like Aurora Vigil who has been in the art world for 35 years, are an essential element in the shaping of the art scene since, as she herself states, "the gallery owner is not only the person who sells works of art, his role is something else, he has to project the artists he believes in, he has to assume the task of disseminating their work".

Julio Anaya

Francisco de Goya - Vuelo de Brujas, 2019

Acrílico sobre cartón

100 x 75cm

Although Art Madrid maintains its preponderance in the usual disciplines such as painting and sculpture, it has been embracing new proposals that define contemporary art in all its lines. On the one hand, the inclusion of a dedicated program that includes video art and action art, which until now was only part of the parallel program and this year has its own stand at the fair. On the other hand, the curatorial program One Project has been consolidating its place as one of the fundamental pillars of Art Madrid. Fernando Gómez de la Cuesta, curator of One Project, states that it is necessary to maintain programs like this one where transgressive, minority proposals can be observed, with a component of friction towards the environment, questioning fashions and trends. This edition under the title of "Salvajes. La cage aux fauves", One Project reaffirms and strengthens this area as a place of confrontation and artistic subversion.

Imanol Villota

It has also been a "clear success the elimination of the second market" to confirm the positioning of Art Madrid as a contemporary art fair, since according to Delgado the fair becomes an absolute expression of the most contemporary scene that seeks direct contact with current art and allows a mapping of what is happening in art today. Artists such as Dionisio González emphasize the open, dynamic and avant-garde character of the fair, as well as the attendance of a varied public that allows bringing contemporary art closer to a more heterogeneous public without, of course, leaving aside the exhibition function for the collectors that come from various corners of the world to attend this unavoidable appointment with art.

This marked internationality is transversal to the fair since in the last editions Art Madrid has 40% of international galleries in its general program. Countries such as South Africa, Taiwan, Cuba or Ecuador are part of the proposal presented by Art Madrid year after year, generating a greater artistic diversity taking into account the socio-cultural influence of each country.

Alejandro Gómez Cangas

Brecha No. 2, 2019

Oil on canvas

140 x 140cm

Hendrik Czakainski

3ER1, 2018

Cartón y pintura sobre MDF

86 x 75cm

 

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.