ARCOmadrid has reopened its doors. However, there are forty-two editions of the most important contemporary art fair in the country. let’s highlight fair, so we avoid unpleasantness. ARCO are two Ifema pavilions (7 and 9 to be more specific) filled with drywall partitions hanging different kinds of work, good or bad. There will be people who are very upset because this is not Pompidou but the truth is it hasn’t even been tried.
Walking at ARCO or any trade show of that size is a lysergic spectacle. Saturation in twenty minutes; per hour, eye strain. Dangerous drunkenness two hours later. Without counting dozens of stops to greet friends, acquaintances or potential customers; to browse crowded warehouses stands or to get closer to some of the many parallel events (book presentations, roundtables, conferences) that take place during the fair days.
In the face of such a deluge (185 galleries with over 1,300 artists), one could spend the whole day wandering around the halls and leave with the impression that something was missed. In fact, due to crowding, insufficient lighting and hum of visitors. undercover in the worst possible way. The great names of Spanish art from the middle of the last century are also participating in this edition.: Hernandez Pijuan, manolo moan (two great pieces in the Helga de Alvear gallery), Luis Gordillo (I really liked the two-headed diptych they hung on Rafael Ortiz), choice Spain about 57 All over the José de la Mano gallery angela de la cruz; Palazuelo, my mother And Perez Villalta (Fernandez Brasso gallery, among them Guillermo Martin Bermejo), some unnoticed barcelona (things that happen), some nice chromatic games Esther Ferrer 1Mira in Madrid, beautiful self-portrait Elena Almeida between pergola Reproduction of Filomena Soares sculptures Juan Munoz an extraordinary painting preserved from its recent institutional resurgence Navarro Baldeweg A remarkable painting from the series in the Miguel Marcos gallery and the Marc Dómenech gallery Morocco related to louis claramunt I wanted this for me.
Audio-visual offerings have been low this year, and their presence is much more discreet than in previous editions. There are, of course, the usual names in European art: Baselitz A few pieces at Thaddaeus Ropac bookmark knoebel, Emanuel Seitz, etc. To make up for it, we can get a little carried away with the partition. never the same latin american artcurated by mariano mayer And Manuela MoscowAlthough we can find works by Latin American artists in the galleries in the main section, eg. The Cayón gallery is dedicated to the centennial of Venezuela. cross tenHE only project related to andrea canepa Fun procession of dolls at Rosa Santos gallery laura anderson barbata in marlborough or pair of pictures knotted related to George Edward EielsonAn interesting retrospective can be seen at the EsBaluard museum in Palma until the beginning of April. There are also two representatives of the new Puerto Rico tableau: Rogelio Baez In Leyendecker and a disturbing still life Omar Velazquez At Ana More.
What about a new generation of Spanish art? Inside pergola You can see a tentacled and tubular sculpture by Ehrhardt Flórez. Julia Spinolasome of his latest works kiko perez and a very beautiful picture Second Hernandez. It is also important to visit the Goma proposal, where you will find a picture of it. miguel marina In our opinion, it is one of the most striking parts of the fair. The same pergola there are some jobs Enrique Radigales (milled and perforated metal sheets, then treated with paint) and a piece setup, the latest and weird addition to the gallery: an engineer who lost his mind in the 50s and started painting UFOs (you can see an exhibit presenting the character in the gallery). Similarly, you can visit some of the works in the Rodríguez Gallery. Cristina Mejias, one of the most distinguished representatives of the new Andalusian sculpture; just across the street from the Alarcón Criado there are some “tapestry”. Irene Babies and some music Joy and Pinero deserving of attention. in Madrid F2, alvaro black It shows an enormous and solemn painting, which under its apparent simplicity contains an extraordinary technical mastery.
Other requirements: papers Loyal Miki A little bit of the Italian vibe (Renaissance) in the Rafael Ortiz gallery. Nacho Martin Silva (a half-faded portrait) In Max Estrella, Julia Huette Besides the yellow composition, which can be seen in Nordés Rosendo Sid; weird jacket ana laura alaez (a leather jacket in which a form emerges between phallic and xenomorphic) and the sculptural ensemble of Pelaires Alberto Peral at Joy. extraordinary pergola ArtNueve from the Murcian gallery has cylindrical and serpentine sculptures. Christian Lagatasome notable pieces Pablo Captain of the River (made with paper, clay and gouache to create those colorful shapes that used to be used on the final papers of books) and some amazing and colorful mushroom sculptures. Sergio Porlanamong others, in addition to the delicate dialogue between Javier Pividal And Eva Lootz.
But let’s take a break from ARCO’s traditional abracaabrant recommendations. Things are picasso this year. There is a dead man and a small house almost facing each other (one at the ADN gallery and the other at Max Estrella). Eugenio Merino, Franco in the fridge and an old fan acquaintance (in collaboration with Santiago Sierra, let’s not take responsibility for anyone) for King Felipe’s ninot sewed an existing Picasso body on a white background. So a Pablo Ruiz doll. I admit I was a little disappointed: I was expecting a battered corpse, but the costume really looks better than yours many mornings. dir-dir covered in his blue and white striped shirt and his usual espadrilles. He has a little stone and I think he wants to convey a deep message about some of the controversy surrounding the upcoming Year of Picasso. There are those who can write a stickman manifesto. Let everyone take it wherever they want.
Opposite it is a cabin made of pieces of Guernica. Eugenio Ampudia, the conceptual artist behind the famous Biocene Concert, which we covered earlier in this paper. According to the artist, the interior of the cabin has four square meters, which is the privacy space enjoyed by families living in refugee camps. It would be appropriate to take an inventory of how many artifacts Guernica reused to bring the embers to his sardines, but there’s something nasty about putting a work of art up for sale in a hyper-commodified space (remember, a fair) to profit economically from the suffering of others.
Mediterrenian, the section he curated covering the space previously presented to the “guest country” brings together many different themes (e.g. car chassis, portraits, a pharmacy office or a QR collection). A weak commonality to say the least: If an artist working in Barcelona is featured alongside some photos of some Greek ladies, we already have a narrative for this episode, but it’s highly suspect. It doesn’t help either that it’s housed in a carpeted cabin that got dirty as soon as it opened, and all this was reflected in the indifference of the first visitors.
In such a fair, it is as if one has seen the same fair over and over again. But to end on a positive note (and I can move on, which is Marco Godoy Made a neon with the “Emosido cheated” meme), I’ll talk about his project Huanchaco At Espacio Valverde. A long and stony form is seen lying on the sofa. Next to it, a chair with a large horn speaker psychoanalyzes the character. It is a reproduction of Lanzón de Chavín, a sacred monolith from ancient Peru (appropriate to the reclining stance, though reliable). The poor man listens awkwardly as the gigantic speaker reminds him of the history of creation, its rediscovery, and the details that highly intelligent experts have done on the subject. The impostor syndrome has reached the gods as well.