Topography of Contrast. An interpretation of Madrid through photography (PHotoESPAÑA 2026)

From 18 June to 22 February 2027, the Museum of Contemporary Art is hosting a group exhibition that offers visitors the chance to see Madrid and its extraordinary transformation through photography. The show is part of the programme for the PHotoESPAÑA 2026 photography festival.

The exhibition offers a multifaceted and critical perspective on the city of Madrid through the Museum’s photographic collection. Conceived as a group exhibition, it brings together various artists and their works, such as Chema Prado; *La Chute 44* by Ángel Marcos; La habitación de Luis by Alberto García-Alix; and Gran Terminal 3 by José Manuel Ballester. The works of these artists engage in a dialogue with one another to reveal the tensions, overlaps and contradictions that define Madrid’s urban identity.

Rather than a historical overview, the exhibition offers a topological interpretation: an emotional and visual map in which metropolitan expansion, architectural memory, everyday life and the in-between spaces that often go unnoticed coexist. Each work serves as a turning point from which to observe how the city is transformed and how, at the same time, it transforms those who live there.

Image credits:

• José Manuel Ballester. Gran Terminal 3, 2002 © José Manuel Ballester
• Ángel Marcos. La Chute No. 44, 2000 © Ángel Marcos
• Chema Prado Untitled, 1989 © Chema Prado