Art Madrid 2018 opens its doors

By Yordanis Ricardo Pupo / Photos: @yricardo (Special Envoy)

The thirteenth edition of Art Madrid opened its doors last Wednesday in the Galería de Cristal of CentroCentro Cibeles, with the presence of fifty galleries of contemporary art, and the prominence of Okuda San Miguel, its guest artist.

The inauguration was attended by ambassadors from a dozen countries, which demonstrates the international support that such an event is having with the participation, on this occasion, of galleries from Germany, France, Ukraine, Portugal, Taiwan, Mexico and Cuba.

The king of the party is Okuda San Miguel (Santander, 1980), a thirty-year-old who is right now one of the most recognized urban artists in the world, with works in public spaces of 25 countries.

Spray in hand, Okuda has designed especially for Art Madrid an immense fabric almost 30 meters long. “El lago de los deseos” (The Lake of Desires) welcomes the attendees, and announces a trail that can be followed at the various stands where they are exhibited and sold, from its iconic skull to a delicate collection of jewelry, made by I am Suárez.

For some years Art Madrid has fostered a greater openness of mind in artistic themes, unthinkable in other Fairs such as ARCO, against which Okuda charged a few days ago in an interview with newspaper El Mundo.

Maybe that's why different disciplines converge here, from painting, sculpture and photography up to performances, installations and video art: the emerging art together with the historical vanguards and the intense color of Pop surrealism of Okuda with masterpieces by Antoni Tápies.

Along with the General Program, and curated again by Carlos Delgado Butler, "One Project" is shown where eight young and medium career creators show unpublished projects, created specifically for the fair and its space.

"One Project has served to establish a dynamic, poli-vocal and open dynamics with those visitors interested in establishing a more paused and reflective vision in such an overwhelming and oversaturated with information context such as a contemporary art fair is", explains Mayordomo.

Puerto Rican Bernardo Medina (San Juan, 1965) is one of those artists that invite us to reflect, and get involved through his work in the hard reality that his island lives after the devastating hurricane Maria, two years ago.

The 13th edition of Art Madrid brings 13 new galleries, as though wishing to break the spell of the fateful number, while favoring the emerging talent, hence most artists are young. Of them, the most Benjamin is precisely the Cuban Carla María Bellido (Havana, 1993).

Graduated just two years ago at the Higher Institute of Art of Cuba, Bellido is already known in this world with a painting that "reflects on concepts such as subjectivity, truthfulness or imagination, while asking "what builds us and what precedes us."

The Cuban artist arrives in Madrid by the hand of Alterna Studio, which also brings pieces from her compatriots Linet Sanchez, Daniel Madruga and Yoxi Velázquez. Also from this Caribbean island are Andy Llanes, Daniel Collazo and Roldán Lauzzán (Collage Havana).

The Art Madrid'18 Contemporary Art Fair will be held until 25 February in the cultural heart of Madrid, in the area known as the "Paseo del arte," a few meters from the Thyssen Museum and El Prado.