MADRID.- Art Madrid closed its doors last Sunday with a great success of audience and sales. Everyday the grey carpet at the Chamartín Station Attic has registered a near-absolute sold out, with more than 35,000 visitors in total, which demonstrates the right decision about changing the location of the fair that has widely exceeded the forecasts of the Organization. As a result of this influx, the pace of the art works acquisitions has grown with lapse of days, shutting down many of them the last day.
At a time of major transformations in the art market, Art Madrid has endorsed its commitment for a change of model, both for the transfer to its new location, and as by its higher standards of quality in a smaller format. In this sense, according to the survey carried out the fairs last day among the 40 participant galleries, most of them declare to have increased their sales above expectations given the current situation. They have been again, Contemporary Spanish Art Private Collectors, very faithful to the fair, who have had the leading role in the purchases.
The changes, designed to adjust better to the galleries interest, have benefited Collectors and Visitors, by the comfort and easy access to the Central Chamartín Train Station. Along with all this, the fair has doubled its annual presence, with a following edition in November. This is intended to provide the galleries -and therefore- its artists, a greater presence in two essential dates for the art market.
The large number of Visitors, who came from another Autonomous Regions and from abroad, turned Art Madrid into an inevitable meeting of the so-called "Madrid Art Week", when thousands of Collectors, Professionals, Media and Contemporary Art admirers visit Madrid. In this sense, the interest aroused by the changes made that more than 300 national and international journalists accredited at the fair.
Similarly to the art market movements and following the current trends of some prestigious international art fairs, that separate Contemporary art from the one of XIX and beginnings of the XX centuries - like The Armory Show, Frieze or Maco in Mexico - Art Madrid fair S.L. (organizer of Art Madrid) presents a new project: Art Madrid Masters. It's a new show, to be held from 24 to 28 April 2013 also at the Attic of Chamartín Station, and which will feature a selection of paintings, sculpture, photography and graphics of the 19th and 20th centuries, with preference for the works created until the seventies of the last century.
Art Madrid: a fair for all the pockets
Collectors attending the fair are very faithful to a number of Spanish artists of the avant-garde of mid-20th century but also like to bet on the young values. Thus, in terms of sales, has been public for all markets. Galleries have sold more affordable works –graphics and small pieces- to younger acquirers but also have done bigger deals with great collectors.
In this sense, acquisitions have been focused on one hand to the great names of the Spanish Avant-Gardes (Tàpies, Pijuán, Canogar, Arroyo, Mompó, Chillida, Feito, Saura, Grau Santos,..., including some pieces from Miró), and on the other hand pieces from later generations, as Valdés, Plensa or Carmen Calvo, and the young values: Héctor Francesch, Fabio Camarotta, Samuel Salcedo, María Treviño, Sito Mújica, Xurxo Gómez Chao, Miguel Piñeiro, Paco García Barcos, Arturo Nuez, José Moñú, Carmen Bustamante, Egar Plans or José Ramón Lozano, with his spectacular faces, among others.
Also the One Project program, curated by Javier Rubio Nomblot has been a complete sales success, with the audience filling every day their space and all the galleries selling many works from those artists - Marcel Camps, Jorge Usán, Fany Kano, Evelyn Hellenschmidt, Ferrer i Martorell, Tonia Trujillo, among others-, besides the artist books from Hila Tina gallery which has sold many pieces.
The fair, spread out
Another prominent artist has been Belin, who has sold not only the 10 meters wall where he has been working during the fair -and that has become the most photographed piece of Art Madrid-, but also another oil paintings and sculptures within its own stand.
Beside the galleries, visitors could watch a Public Open Air exhibition of a dozen sculptures at the Esplanade outside the fair, that have expanded the spectrum of exhibiting works of Art Madrid. The pieces are of the Sculptors Group Mínimo Tamaño Grande, composed among others by artists such as Diego Canogar or José Luis Menéndez, whose spectacular creation hanged from the ceiling inside the fair.
Art Madrid hosted as well a Costume Exhibition curated by Manuel Fernández and designed by known Spanish Artists, like Genovés, Luis Gordillo or Rafael Canogar, among others, within the Fashion Art Project, which seeks to merge fashion design and painting, to create a new language and a full plastic artwork.
On Thursday and Friday, the fair halls hosted the performance "Skin is an Unstable Metal," created and directed by the choreographer Azahara Ubera Biedma.
Art Madrid news, Social Networks
In addition to those physically present at the Chamartín Station Attic, 500 extra artists can say that they have taken part in Art Madrid, thanks to the Arte Oculto Madrid initiative (Madrid Hidden Art), which completed a mural with data from Websites and blogs, and then transformed them into QR codes. During the next days, both Arte Oculto Madrid (www.arteocultomadrid.com) and Art Madrid (www.art-madrid.com) websites will publish the Artists selection. Those who have not been able to be present at the fair (and many who did) followed the events that were taking place there through Art Madrid´s Official Website (www.art-madrid.com) and on Twitter (@ArtMadrid13) and Facebook accounts.
Institutional visits
During the fair some authorities visited the galleries, including Fernando Villalonga, Delegate of the Arts of Madrid City Council; Isabel Rosell, Director of Fine Arts of Madrid Autonomous Community; Lorena Martínez de Corral, Advisor of Plastic Arts of Madrid Autonomous Community; Carlota Álvarez Basso, Director of Contemporary Culture programs from Matadero Madrid; Consuelo Císcar, Director of the IVAM in Valencia and Cristina Fontaneda, Director of the Museo Patio Herreriano in Valladolid, as well as an important representation of the Government of the Balearic Islands Community: Rafael Ángel Bosch, Minister of culture of the Balearic Government; Joan Rotger, Vice President of culture of the Balearic Council; Fernando Gilet, Cultural Counselor of Palma de Mallorca City; Bel Cerdá, Cultural General Director and Catalina Sureda, Insular Cultural Director.
The 40 galleries from the 8th edition of Art Madrid
General Program galleries: 3 Punts (Barcelona); Art Lounge (Lisboa - Portugal); Ansorena (Madrid); Artetrece (Madrid); BAT. Alberto Cornejo (Madrid); Benlliure (Valencia); Cortina (Barcelona); David Cervelló (Barcelona); Del Cisne (Madrid); Emma Zunz (Montevideo, Madrid); Espiral (Noja - Cantabria); Estela Docal (Santander); Fernando Latorre (Madrid); Gabriel Vanrell (Palma de Mallorca); Hispánica (Madrid); Joan Gaspar (Barcelona, Madrid); Lorenart (Madrid); Maneu (Palma de Mallorca); Marc Calzada (Barcelona); Marita Segovia (Madrid); Michael Schmalfuss (Berlín - Germany); Moret Art (A Coruña); Obra Gráfica Original (Madrid); Pilares (Cuenca); Punto (Valencia); Rodrigo Juarranz (Aranda de Duero - Burgos); Taller del Prado (Madrid); Val i 30 (Valencia); Victor i Fills (Madrid, Barcelona) and Xanon (Bilbao).
One Project program: Al Marge (Xàbia - Alicante) / two Projects; Arteria Gráfica (Madrid); Carolina Rojo (Zaragoza); Galerie Rother (Wiesbaden - Germany); Hila Tina Ediciones (Madrid); Imaginart (Barcelona); Imprevisual (Valencia); La Lavandería (Madrid); Material (Madrid) y Ra del Rey (Madrid).
