Art Madrid returns to Madrid Art Week and will celebrate its seventeenth edition from February 23 to 27 at the Crystal Gallery of Palacio de Cibeles. A unique, open-plan, and bright space located in the ‘Landscape of Light’: next to Prado Museum, Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, and MNCARS - Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía.

Art Madrid 2021

Art Madrid selection committee has once again been in charge of evaluating the applications of galleries interested in participating in the seventeenth edition of the fair. To guarantee a high level of artistic quality in the Art Madrid'22 programming, the committee has evaluated the applications based on the proposals submitted and the represented artists' careers. On this occasion the committee was integrated of Alfonso de la Torre (critic and curator), Aurora Vigil-Escalera (gallery owner), Natalia Alonso (critic and curator), Angel Samblancat (gallery owner and international fairs consultant), and Javier López (gallery owner) ).

For the first time, the galleries will participate in Art Madrid: Galerie Alex Serra (Köln, Germany), Arena Martínez Projects (Madrid, Spain), ARTITLEDcontemporary (Herpen, Netherlands), Dr. Robot Gallery (Valencia, Spain), GARNA Art Gallery ( Madrid, Spain) and Jackie Shor Arte (São Paulo, Brazil).

Carolina Serrano, “My nameless words II”, Paraffin, 91 x 12 x 8 cm (2021). Galerie Alex Serra ©

In the other hand, the international galleries at Art Madrid will be: Art Lounge Gallery (Lisbon, Portugal), ARTITLEDcontemporary (Herpen, Netherlands), Collage Habana (Havana, Cuba), Galeria São Mamede (Lisbon, Portugal), Galerie Alex Serra (Köln, Germany), Galerie LJ (Paris, France), Jackie Shor Arte (São Paulo, Brazil), Nuno Sacramento (Ílhavo, Portugal), Studija Mindiuzarte / Kaunas (Kaunas, Lithuania) and Yiri Arts (Taipei), Taiwan).

More than 160 artists will exhibit their work at the fair, dealing with different disciplines such as painting, sculpture, photography, and installation, and offering the visitor a unique experience enjoying contemporary art.

Among them are some of the most prominent emerging artists of the moment such as Mária Švarbová, Carmen Pastrana, Chang Teng-Yuan, Costa Gorelov and Camille Bonneau; mid-career as Carlos Cartaxo, Gerard Fernández Rico and Marcos Tamargo; along with established artists such as Chema Mádoz, David Rodríguez Caballero, Carmen Calvo, Uiso Alemany, Alberto Guerrero, Josecho López Llorens, Manolo Valdés, Rafael Barrios and Lars Zech, among others.

Carlos Cartaxo, “Several Windows VII”, Acrylic and enamel on canvas. 195x140cm (2021).Arena Martinez Projects ©

Chang Teng Yuan, “The School of Parrotman Athens” ,Acrylic on canvas, 130x193cm (2021). Yiri Arts ©

PROGRAMS

One Shot Hotels is once again the sponsor of Art Madrid and has prepared two initiatives with which it renews its faithful commitment to contemporary art. One is the curated program by Natalia Alonso, who will curate a tour of various artworks exhibited at Art Madrid'22 to introduce and bring the public closer to understanding the art market ecosystem. The other is the collectors' program by Pía Rubio, one of the most prestigious art consultants in our country. The service aims both to enhance the commercial work of the galleries and to offer advice on the acquisition of works of art for new buyers.

Finally, the fair co-organizes, together with the video art platform Proyector, a parallel program focused on video creation, action art, and performance, under the curatorship of Mario Gutiérrez. In this edition, Proyector will focus on investigating and rethinking the concept of “loop” through the pioneers of video art, both from the creation point of view, distribution and collecting. During the fair you will also be able to enjoy an installation by Gary Hill, considered the founder of New Media Art, and two live proposals by Hill himself; together with works by Llorenç Barber, a pioneer of sound art.

Below, we detail the list of galleries of Art Madrid 2022:

The work of Julian Manzelli (Chu) (Buenos Aires, Argentina, 1974) is situated within a field of research in which art adopts methodologies close to scientific thinking without renouncing its poetic and speculative dimension. His practice is structured as an open process of experimentation, in which the studio functions as a laboratory: a space for trial, error, and verification, oriented less toward the attainment of certainties than toward the production of new forms of perception. In this sense, his work enters into dialogue with an epistemology of uncertainty, akin to philosophical traditions that understand knowledge as a process of becoming rather than closure.

Manzelli explores interstitial zones, understood as spaces of transit and transformation. These ambiguous areas are not presented as undefined but as potential—sites where categories dissolve, allowing the emergence of hybrid, almost alchemical configurations that reprogram the gaze. Geometry, far from operating as a normative system, appears tense and destabilized. His precarious constructions articulate a crossing between intuition and reason, play and engineering, evoking a universal grammar present in both nature and symbolic thought. Thus, Manzelli’s works do not represent the world but rather transfigure it, activating questions rather than offering closed answers.

Avícola. Escultura magnética. Madera, imanes, laca automotriz y acero. 45 x 25 cm. 2022.

Science and its methods inspire your process. What kinds of parallels do you find between scientific thinking and artistic creation?

Science and art are two disciplines that I believe share a great deal and are undoubtedly deeply interconnected. I am interested in that point of intersection, and although they are often placed in opposition, I think they share a common origin. Both involve a continuous search, a need for answers that stems from curiosity rather than certainty, and that often—or in many cases—leads both artists and scientists into uncomfortable, uncertain positions, pushing them out of their comfort zones. I believe this is a fundamental and very compelling aspect shared by these two disciplines, which in some way define us as human beings.

In this sense, both share experimentation as a core axis of their practice. Trial and error, testing, and the entire process of experimentation are what generate development. In my case, this applies directly to the studio: I experience it as a laboratory where different projects are developed and materials are tested. It is as if one formulates a hypothesis and then puts it to the test—materials, procedures, forms, colors—and outcomes emerge. These results are not meant to be verified, but rather, in art, I believe their function is to generate new modes of perception, new ways of seeing, and new experiences.

Receptor Lunar #01. Ensamble de Madera Reciclada torneada. 102 x 26 x 26 cm. De la serie Fuerza orgánica. 2023.

You work within the interstices between the natural and the artificial, the figurative and the abstract. What interests you about these ambiguous zones, and what kinds of knowledge emerge from them?

I have always been quite restless, and that has led me to immerse myself in different fields and disciplines. I believe there is a special richness in interstitial spaces—in movement back and forth, in circulation between media. These spaces have always drawn my attention: ambiguous places, hybrid zones. There is something of an amphibious logic here—amphibians as entities that carry and transmit information, that share, that cross boundaries and membranes. In my case, this is closely linked to what I understand as freedom, especially at a time marked by categorization, labeling, and a profound distortion of the very concept of freedom.

On another level, more metaphysical in nature, it is within the mixture—within that blending—that the living energy of creating something new appears, which is undoubtedly a fundamental aspect of what it means to be human. It is as if “one thing becomes something else outside the mold.” This interaction is necessary to break structures, to build new ones, to transmute—to undergo something almost alchemical. I believe fixation is the enemy. In a way, ambiguity is what allows us to reprogram our gaze and generate new points of view.

De la serie Naturaleza orgánica. Madera torneada recuperada de podas de sequía y rezagos de construcción. 2025.

Movement, repetition, and sequence appear as visual strategies in your work. What role does seriality play in the generation of meaning?

Movement, repetition, and sequence are very present in my work. I have a long background in animation, and in some way that interest begins to filter into the other disciplines in which I work. Thus, movement also appears in my visual art practice.

Seriality is a way of thinking about time and of introducing a certain narrative and sense of action into the work, while at the same time conditioning the viewer’s experience. It invites the viewer to try to decipher repetition as a kind of progression. I am particularly interested in more abstract forms of narrative. In this type of narrative, where there is no clear figuration, repetition begins to establish a pulse, a “beat” that marks the passage of time. What is interesting, I think, is the realization that repetition is not exactly duplication, and that what seems identical begins to mutate over time, through rhythm, or through its own unfolding history.

De la serie Naturaleza orgánica. Madera torneada recuperada de podas de sequía y rezagos de construcción. 2025.

You work with geometric and constructive systems. What role does geometry play as a symbolic language within your practice?

Geometry is present in my work in multiple forms and dimensions, generating different dynamics. Generally, I tend to put it into crisis, into tension. When one engages closely with my works, it becomes clear that constructions based on imprecise and unstable balance predominate. I am not interested in symmetry or exactness, but rather in a dynamic construction that proposes a situation. I do not conceive of geometry as a rigid system.

I believe this is where a bridge is established between the intuitive and the rational, between playfulness and engineering—those unexpected crossings. At the same time, geometry functions as a code, a language that connects us to a universal grammar present in nature, in fractals, and that undoubtedly refers to symbolism. It is there that an interesting portal opens, where the work begins to re-signify itself and becomes a process of meaning-making external to itself, entirely uncertain. The results of my works are not pieces that represent; rather, I believe they are pieces that transfigure and, in doing so, generate questions.

WIP. Madera torneada recuperada de podas de sequía y rezagos de contrucción. 2022.

To what extent do you plan your works, and how much space do you leave for the unexpected—or even for error?

In terms of planning, it depends greatly on the project and even on the day. Some projects, due to their scale or complexity, require careful planning, especially when they involve the participation of other people. In many cases, planning is undoubtedly essential.

That said, in the projects I do plan, I am always interested in leaving space for improvisation, where chance or the unfolding of the process itself can come into play. I believe this is where interesting things begin to emerge, and it is important not to let them pass by. Personally, I would find it very boring to work on pieces whose outcome I already know in advance. For me, the realization of each work is an uncertain journey; I do not know where it will lead, and I believe that is where its potential lies—not only for me, but also for the work itself and for the viewer’s experience.