From Art Madrid, we pose a key reflection: Is it enough to talk about emerging art, work with emerging artists, and be a platform for their promotion? Reality shows us that many of these creators, at the beginning of their professional journey, face structural barriers such as a lack of public support, the absence of galleries willing to invest in them, or the disinterest of cultural institutions.

This situation, persistent both in the Spanish landscape and in other international contexts, leads us to ask: Where is emerging art truly heading? What defines emerging artists? And why do we tend to associate the emerging solely with age, as if emergence were inexorably tied to youth?

The V' Day in Coiled Dragon Garden. Acrylic on canvas. 2022. Sun Pei Mao. Represented at Art Madrid'25 by Yiri Arts.

Emerging art should not be merely a category confined to novelty or a specific life stage. It should be a dynamic concept encompassing the freshness of ideas, the courage in proposals, and the capacity to challenge the status quo, regardless of when or how an artist emerges. It is time to broaden the conversation and rethink the space we grant to those who, from any corner or circumstance, choose to make art their way of breaking into the art scene.

The term "emerging art" has been, from its inception, a nebulous concept deeply dependent on the structures that define and promote it. Initially conceived as a category to describe artists in the early stages of their careers, the concept has transformed into a contested terrain for galleries, institutions, and art critics, often becoming more of a market mechanism than a designation of genuine creative promise. But in the 21st century, does it still make sense to talk about "emerging art"?

Untitled. Sculpture. Wood, wax, oil, and tannins. 2022. Hirosuke Yabe. Represented at Art Madrid'25 by 3 Punts Galería.

In an increasingly hyperconnected world, where the barriers between the "emerging" and the "established" are blurred by the rapid circulation of artistic images and narratives, the term may begin to lose its weight. Social media has democratized, at least in theory, access to the visibility of artworks, allowing artists from all latitudes to project their work to a global audience without traditional intermediaries. This phenomenon raises a key question: What is truly "emerging" when a creator can go from anonymity to viral notoriety in a matter of hours?

The paradox deepens when we consider how the art market has absorbed this concept. "Emerging art" has shifted from being a temporary category to becoming a label that fuels speculative desire. However, this often results in the instrumentalization of the artist, whose work is reduced to a mere vehicle for economic transactions. In this context, the concept of "emergence" refers less to the potential for exploration or innovation and more to a speculative promise of financial return.

Chromatic Dream Space. Acrylic, oil, resins, and spray paint on canvas. 2024. Gemma Alpuente. Represented at Art Madrid'25 by Canal Gallery.

Emergent: relative to what?

Another fundamental issue lies in the relationship between "emergence" and the systems of power that legitimize it. Traditionally, the idea of an emerging artist suggests a narrative of ascent, a transition from the margins to the center of institutional recognition. However, this narrative presupposes a fixed cultural hierarchy, where centers of power (New York, London, Berlin, among others) dictate what is emerging and what is not.

In recent decades, movements like postcolonialism and decolonial theories have challenged these hierarchies, pointing out how they perpetuate historical and geographical inequalities. From this perspective, labeling an artist from a "peripheral" region as "emerging" can be problematic, as it reinforces the idea that their value lies in their ability to adapt to the standards imposed by hegemonic cultural centers.

The Virginity Machine. Acrylic on canvas. 2024. Brenda Cabrera. Represented at Art Madrid'25 by Collage Habana.

The impact of technology and new forms of emergence

In today's world, the artistic landscape is shaped by digital technology, which redefines how art is produced, distributed, and consumed. Platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and NFT marketplaces have created new avenues of visibility and parallel economies that escape, at least partially, the control of traditional institutions. In this context, emerging art is no longer necessarily tied to galleries or museums but to a creator’s ability to navigate digital environments and build virtual communities around their work.

This generates new dynamics that challenge the usefulness of the term "emerging." On the one hand, it broadens the definition of what can be considered art and who can participate in its production. On the other, there is a risk that the focus on the "new" and "disruptive" is reduced to a mere algorithmic strategy, where the quality of the work is subordinate to its capacity to generate interactions.

Apple and Blue bear. Apple and larva. Ceramic. 2024. Yasuhito Kawasaki. Represented at Art Madrid'25 by Ting Ting Art Space.

Should we abandon the term?

In light of these complexities, we must ask whether the concept of "emerging art" remains useful or should be replaced by other categories that better reflect contemporary realities. Perhaps a more fruitful approach would be to focus on terms like "independent art," "decentralized art," or simply "contemporary art," which avoid the hierarchical and market-driven connotations inherent to "emerging." Ultimately, questioning the concept of emerging art is not just a terminological issue but a critical exercise to rethink the structures that determine how we value artistic creation. In a world where the boundaries between the emerging and the established are increasingly blurred, perhaps the real emergence lies in reimagining the very foundations of how we conceive art and its role in society.

Untitled. Acrylic on canvas. 2024. R.S. Babu. Represented at Art Madrid'25 by Gallery 1000A.

Contemporary art is a territory without fixed maps, a fluctuating space where the only rule is that nothing is set in stone. In this context, the word "emerging" takes on multiple meanings, because contemporary art is not only a product that emerges from thought or technique but is also linked to a constant process of emergence. We invite you to rethink and question its definition beyond prejudices and reductionist conceptualizations, and instead, from the spirit and commitment to open new paths toward understanding the art of our time.

Daniel Barrio. Guest artist of the third edition of OPEN BOOTH. Courtesy of the artist.

DESPIECE. PROTOCOLO DE MUTACIÓN

As part of the Art Madrid’26 Parallel Program, we present the third edition of Open Booth, a space conceived as a platform for artistic creation and contemporary experimentation. The initiative focuses on artists who do not yet have representation within the gallery circuit, offering a high-visibility professional context in which new voices can develop their practice, explore forms of engagement with audiences, and consolidate their presence within the current art scene. On this occasion, the project features artist Daniel Barrio (Cuba, 1988), who presents the site-specific work Despiece. Protocolo de mutación.

Daniel Barrio’s practice focuses on painting as a space for experimentation, from which he explores the commodification of social life and the tyranny of media approval. He works with images drawn from the press and other media, intervening in them pictorially to disrupt their original meaning. Through this process, the artist opens up new readings and questions how meaning is produced, approaching painting as a space of realization, therapy, and catharsis.

Despiece. Protocolo de mutación is built from urban remnants, industrial materials, and fragments of history, inviting us to reflect on which memories we inherit, which we consume, and which ones we are capable of creating. Floors, walls, and volumes come together to form a landscape under tension, where the sacred coexists with the everyday, and where cracks matter more than perfection.

The constant evolution of art calls for ongoing exchange between artists, institutions, and audiences. In its 21st edition, Art Madrid reaffirms its commitment to acting as a catalyst for this dialogue, expanding the traditional boundaries of the art fair context and opening up new possibilities of visibility for emerging practices.

Despiece. Protocolo de mutación emerges from a critical and affective impulse to dismantle, examine, and reassemble what shapes us culturally and personally. The work is conceived as an inseparable whole: an inner landscape that operates as a device of suspicion, where floors, walls, and volumes configure an ecosystem of remnants. It proposes a reading of history not as a linear continuity, but as a system of forces in permanent friction, articulating space as an altered archive—a surface that presents itself as definitive while remaining in constant transformation.

The work takes shape as a landscape constructed from urban waste, where floors, walls, and objects form a unified body made of lime mortar, PVC from theatrical signage, industrial foam, and offering wax. At the core of the project is an L-shaped structure measuring 5 × 3 meters, which reinterprets the fresco technique on reclaimed industrial supports. The mortar is applied wet over continuous working days, without a pursuit of perfection, allowing the material to reveal its own character. Orbiting this structure are architectural fragments: foam blocks that simulate concrete, a 3D-printed and distorted Belvedere torso, and a wax sculptural element embedded with sandpaper used by anonymous workers and artists, preserving the labor of those other bodies.

A white wax sculptural element functions within the installation as a point of sensory concentration that challenges the gaze. Inside it converge the accumulated faith of offering candles and the industrial residues of the studio, recalling that purity and devotion coexist with the materiality of everyday life. The viewer’s experience thus moves beyond the visual: bending down, smelling, and approaching its vulnerability transforms perception into an intimate, embodied act. Embedded within its density are sanding blocks used by artists, artisans, and laborers, recovered from other contexts, where the sandpaper operates as a trace of the effort of other bodies, following a protocol of registration with no autobiographical intent.

Despiece. Protocolo de mutación addresses us directly, asking: which memory do we value—the one we consume, or the one we construct with rigor? The audience leaves behind a purely contemplative position to become part of the system, as the effort of moving matter, documentary rigor, and immersive materiality form a body of resistance against a mediated reality. The project thus takes shape as an inner landscape, where floor, surface, and volume articulate an anatomy of residues. Adulteration operates as an analytical methodology applied to the layers of urban reality, intervening in history through theatrical and street advertising, architectural remnants, and administrative protocols, proposing that art can restore the capacity to build one’s own memory, even if inevitably fragmented.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

DANIEL BARRIO (1988, Cuba)

Daniel Barrio (Cienfuegos, Cuba, 1988) is a visual artist whose practice articulates space through painting, understanding the environment as an altered archive open to critical intervention. He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts of Cienfuegos (2004–2008), specializing in painting, and later at the Madrid Film School (ECAM, 2012–2015), where he studied Art Direction. His methodology integrates visual thinking with scenographic narrative.

His trajectory includes solo exhibitions such as La levedad en lo cotidiano (Galería María Porto, Madrid, 2023), Interiores ajenos (PlusArtis, Madrid, 2022), and Tribud (Navel Art, Madrid, 2019), as well as significant group exhibitions including Space is the Landscape (Estudio Show, Madrid, 2024), Winterlinch (Espacio Valverde Gallery, Madrid, 2024), Hiberia (Galería María Porto, Lisbon, 2023), and the traveling exhibition of the La Rioja Young Art Exhibition (2022).

A member of the Resiliencia Collective, his work does not pursue the production of objects but rather the articulation of pictorial devices that generate protocols of resistance against the flow of disposable images. In a context saturated with immediate data, his practice produces traces and archives what must endure, questioning not the meaning of the work itself but the memory the viewer constructs through interaction—thus reclaiming sovereignty over the gaze and inhabiting ruins as a method for understanding the present.