Yorokobu magazine has just celebrated 10 years of serving creativity and its best stories. As Mar Abad, the magazine's founding partner, explains, «the most rewarding thing has been finding so much talent that I had yet to discover and observe how these people have become established creators».

Carmen Reina, “Cabeza casposa, poco piojosa”, obra seleccionada para la portada de Yorokobu 2019-20

This year, Art Madrid is joining forces with Yorokobu to welcome a group of illustrators and creators who are faithful to the genuine style of this medium which, with a decade under its belt, has managed to carve out a path for itself in the publishing sector, always maintaining the freshness, originality and a small irreverent touch that so characterise its publications. This twinning is also a double celebration, 10 years for Yorokobu and 15 years for Art Madrid, an occasion that deserves to be shared with the public at the height of Art Week in the capital.

The booth that Yorokobu will have in Art Madrid is a small tribute to the trajectory of the medium, based on the discovery of potential talents, since the two selected artists were and are collaborators of the magazine: Juan Díaz-Faes and Buba Viedma.

Ilustración de Buba Viedma, 2018

The Asturian Juan Díaz-Faes will present his project Black Faes, the result of an artistic residency promoted by the SOLO Collection within its lines of patronage for visual artists. With the support of SOLO, this creator makes his work available to the public for the first time.

In Black Faes, the artist transfers his classic patterns to pieces which black is the main colour, created with the intention of being shared and enjoyed in domestic spaces.

Ilustración de Juan Díaz-Faes, 2018

Each piece has its name and its own history. Tuchelin, Bogey, F.Devillers, Blakinete,Mayan or BlackBoin are part of the gang of geometrical pieces that, thanks to the incorporation of Talavera ceramics, recovered books, woods or canvases, take shape and propose a different story depending on where we look at them from.

The second proposal from Yorokobu comes through Buba Viedma. The illustrations presented by the Madrilenian come subsequently to the series The rabbit and the snake.

Viedma continued investigating in his work about The Symbol and the archetypes of his dreams, about his own and collective unconscious, looking for the way to bring these symbols and their meanings to the new times, but, as he himself explains, "always freaking out about the right thing".

Retrado de Díaz-Faes

Diaz-Faes draws, eats and laughs in equal parts. And if he's quiet, he gets bored. One of Yorokobu's leading illustrators, this Asturian artist, who has developed his career between illustration and muralism, is the author of 10 books and has collaborated with media such as GQ, El País or Ling, among others. He has also worked on campaigns for brands such as San Miguel, Nickelodeon, Ford and Vodafone.

Buba Viedma, "El conejo y la serpiente"

Buba Viedma is an illustrator and graphic designer born in Madrid. He grew up in a neighbourhood where going out into the street after sunset meant going home barefoot, so it was much more practical to stay at home watching cartoons, reading and, of course, drawing.

He had a long mili of printers, studios and advertising agencies. At the same time, he carried out freelance orders for small clients under the umbrella of Mentecalamar Studio. At the beginning of 2014 he decided to bet on the studio and work on his own.

He is a regular contributor to Yorokobu magazine, with whose collaborations he has won two ÑH awards and one APIM prize.

In his free time he cleans his house, does the laundry, cooks and fights against evil, although for the latter he does not have much time left.

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.