ART FAIRS:Art Madrid 2020

Art Madrid, the most important contemporary art fair in the Spanish capital, celebrates its 15th anniversary this year with an edition that is more dynamic and transgressive than ever with changes that promise to please all attendees and participants. The fair defines itself as an open and global proposal that offers the perfect opportunity to discover and acquire singular works covering all disciplines.

By Efi Michalarou
Photo: Art Madrid Archive

Art Madrid defines as an open and global proposal that offers the perfect opportunity to discover and acquire unique works by dozens of artists. The 15^th edition brings together 27 Spanish and 14 foreign galleriew,  from 9 countries: Spain, France, Portugal, Austria, Germany, Italy, Ecuador, Cuba, and Taiwan, 5 galleries integrate the curatorial space One Project, which Art Madrid has redefined and extended in this edition to turn it into a place of friction and artistic stimulus. With the title “Salvajes. La cage aux fauves”, One Project puts together the work of 9 artists who share a different area, developing a more heterogeneous and polyhedral context where they exhibit their work two by two. The selected artists work from different perspectives of contemporary creation, presenting projects of a unique nature and specific to the fair. The participating galleries and artists are Nicolás Laiz and Alona Harpaz; Juan Carlos Batista and Santiago Palenzuela; Andrés Planas; and Pichiavo and Julio Anaya. The One Project program completes with DDR Art Gallery from Madrid, who repeats for the second time in the fair, now with the new sculpture of Roberto Lopez and the painting of Virginia Rivas. As Fernando Gómez de la Cuesta, the curator of  One Project,  says “the programme activates the research on the market and fairs as institutions that legitimate the professional careers in the art world, but also on fashions, trends and mainstreams, focusing on those resilient artists who choose to travel along paths far away from them”. Art Madrid transforms into a dynamic event to make it an immersive experience in contemporary art. With the video art platform PROYECTOR, and under the curatorship of its director Mario Gutiérrez Cru, Art Madrid takes its most innovative commitment: it holds a booth dedicated to live presentations and actions. Every afternoon at 5 pm, the visitors will attend the meeting with an artist in the field of video creation: Abelardo Gil-Fournier, Fernando Baena, Mario Santamaría y Maia Navas will be the protagonists of this space. At 20:00, Art Madrid will give way to action art, a term coined by performer Allan Kaprow, offering the audience a unique and unforgettable experience: attending live audiovisual performances by internationally renowned artists. Iván Puñal, Eunice Artur with Bruno Gonçalves, Arturo Moya with Ruth Abellán and Olga Diego will provoke an intimate and personal connection with the spectator. During the five days of the fair, this space will also host a cycle of screenings with the best selection of pieces from international video art festivals in the world, with proposals from Portugal, Mexico, Morocco, Colombia, Peru, Argentina, France, Greece and the Netherlands. Liquitex will award a prize in materials valued at €1,500 to one of the participating artists of Art Madrid who uses acrylic paint as the main medium in his/her creations. The winner will be decided between the organisation of Liquitex and Art Madrid and on Sunday 1st March there will be a ceremony at the fair to award the prize.

Info: Art Madrid 2020, Galería de Cristal de CentroCentro Cibeles, 1 Montalbán St., near Plaza de Cibeles 1, Madrid, Duration: 26/2-1/3/20, Hours: 11:00-21:00, Admission: Full-fare ticket 15€, Reduced Ticket (people over 65y, unemployed, students and groups (20 minimum)) 12€,  Children up to 12years- free, www.art-madrid.com