From 22 to 26 February, Madrid turns into the global capital of contemporary art as it hosts its annual fair, now in its 36th edition.
The International Contemporary Art Fair of Madrid kicks off a new edition with a clear aim: to establish itself as a fair where collectors and industry professionals can discover new talent and material. To this end, it features a General Programme in which 160 galleries are scheduled to take part, in addition to those in the other curated sections: Argentina Plataforma ARCO, with twelve galleries; Dialogues, with another twelve; and Opening, with sixteen. Most of the galleries will offer up projects focused on presenting one or two artists from different backgrounds, strengthening ARCOmadrid’s status as a space in which to discover the work of creators from varying generations. Argentina’s participation as guest country this year consolidates the scope of the fair as a major Latin American benchmark in Europe.
Against this backdrop, Madrid will also strive to show off its most impressive Latin American side, with various exhibitions taking place at the city’s leading art centres and museums. Visitors can view exhibitions focusing on the Isabel and Agustín Coppel Collection at the Banco Santander Foundation, the Hochschild Collection at Sala Alcalá 31 and the Costantini Collection at the San Fernando Royal Academy of Fine Arts, as well as the shows devoted to Diego Bianchi and Luis Garay at Matadero Madrid and to Leandro Erlich in Telefónica Foundation Space, among others. In addition to the large number of galleries returning to ARCOmadrid as repeat participants this year, new galleries and emerging countries will also have a presence, laying the groundwork for a coherent and top-notch edition. Participants of particular note include Alexander and Bonin, Chantal Crousel, Jan Mot/Sprueth Magers, Lisson Gallery and Team Gallery, plus other important galleries whose interest in the fair is as strong as ever, such as Carlier Gebauer, Esther Shipper, Jocelyn Wolff and Kow, as well as participants like Dvir, Jablonka Maruani Mercier Gallery, Labor, Michel Rein, Nara Roesler, Supportico Lopez and Tanya Bonakdar.
ARCOmadrid remains committed to presenting projects by individual artists as well as those that strike up a ‘dialogue’ with each other: throughout the fair this intergenerational dialogue will encompass Galería Marilia Razuk a range of artists, from the youngest likeElena Alonso and Fito Conesa to the most prominent artists of today, such as Anna Oppermann, Henri Chopin, Mihai Olos and Robert Breer. Once again this year, the fair will carve out a place for the SOLO/DUO component, with over 20 of the selected galleries devoting their stands to one or two specific artists, including Alan Charlton, Edgardo Antonio Vigo, Ignasi Aballí, José María Sicilia and Tomás Saraceno. For its part, Argentina Plataforma ARCO will present internationally renowned artists like Alberto Greco, Eduardo Stupia and Mirtha Dermisache, as well as others awaiting discovery by the general public such as Diego Bianchi, Pablo Accinelli and Sol Pipkin. The Dialogues programme will feature galleries selected by María de Corral, Lorena Martínez de Corral and Catalina Lozano, whose stands will produce new material in addition to presenting an indepth overview of the work of their artists, including Diango Hernández and Roman Ondak as well as Argentinian artists Eduardo Navarro, Irene Kopelman and Tomás Saraceno. Finally, Opening will once again focus on galleries created no more than seven years ago, with the aim of contributing new aesthetic information and experiences. Artists under the spotlight in this section include Carme Nogueira, Felipe Cohen and Luis Lázaro Matos.