Notes related to ARCOmadrid

ARCOmadrid 2025 comes to an end with almost as many answers as questions. On the one hand, the concept of the fair—its commercial dimension—is now firmly established, marking a shift from the situation of a few years ago, when ARCO’s role as a meeting point for the general public seemed essential. This does not mean that attracting an audience with access to contemporary art is no longer part of its strategy, but rather that the fair now operates with a dual focus on two clearly defined lines of work: what and how. This shift consolidates the growing emphasis on collectors and institutions.

With strong gallery participation, ARCO is an interesting point to measure how the proposals reach the visitor and the collector. The choices based on aesthetic or commercial criteria create synergies that shape a fluid and sometimes circumstantial representation of each catalog. From Arte al Día, we delve into ten of those catalogs, expanded to variegated universes, monographs and dialogues that show a sample of the approach of Latin American galleries in their presence at the Madrid fair.

The Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía has announced the acquisitions made during the ARCO fair, through which both the institution and the Ministry of Culture expand the museum’s collections. Among the artists whose work is now part of the Madrid-based institution are Argentine artist Marta Minujín and Colombian artists Juan Pablo Echeverri and Luz Lizarazo—three figures with different career trajectories who bring a distinct Latin American perspective to a list of acquisitions largely focused on Spanish artists.

The Latin American presence at ARCO is consolidating year after year, establishing itself as a primary guiding thread beyond market trends, becoming a significant part of the identity of the Madrid fair. In this sense, the participating galleries in the various programs showcase well-established names as well as younger or more radical bets, shaping an ecosystem in which various productions can be analyzed.

The organization has entrusted Mexican curator José Esparza Chong Cuy with the development of Perfiles | Arte latinoamericano, a curated journey that highlights, through ten selected figures, the diversity of visual approaches. As the curator himself states, it offers "a broad panorama of how to identify as artists and build community, proposing new ways of making, thinking, and living together."

Maria Wills (Bogota, Colombia 1979) and Denilson Baniwa (Barcelos, Brazil, 1984) are the responsible for Wametisé: ideas for an amazofuturism, one of the special programs curated for ARCO 2025 and that navigates the Amazon and its growing impact on contemporary art. This proposal proposes a scenario of representation and dialogue through a selection of galleries and guest artists who will raise, through their works and their realities, the different conceptions of the Amazonian world and the possibilities of a collective future.

Madrid's Reina Sofia Museum, in collaboration with the Reina Sofia Museum Foundation, reinforces its growing involvement and strategy for the dissemination and study of Latin American contemporary art with the creation of the Cáder Institute of Central American Art (ICAC), dedicated to the research and dissemination of Central American art.

Intricate between action and register, El Apartamento hosts Algo deja quien se va, the first solo exhibition in Spain by Reynier Leyva Novo (Havana, Cuba, 1983). Starting from the political concept of historical memory and linking it to the issues of power and colonialism, the artist unfolds in two well-differentiated series his proposal to approach these lines, and extends his networks to the impact (or influence) they have on the institutional and cultural fabric.

The intervention Wasi Llamkha (Place and touch), by artist Andrea Canepa (Lima, Peru, 1980), stands on the South Patio of Madrid's Condeduque. This pavilion, designed as an ephemeral architectural structure, invites us to explore its sensorial value, far from the preeminence of the visual, and claims, by way of inspiration, the quipus, the forms of representation and recording of information from pre-Columbian Peru.

Madrid-based Maisterravalbuena proposes a vindication of the work of Sarah Grilo (Buenos Aires, Argentina,1917 - Madrid, Spain, 2007) through Soluciones para pensar, the second exhibition on this artist at the gallery. With a didactic and rediscovery vocation, the exhibition gathers a selection of paintings in different formats made between the 1960s and 1990s, many of them unpublished to the public. This work of selection and direct work of the gallery with the archive and the legacy of the Argentinean artist becomes fundamental in the structuring of the objective of creating opportunities for a greater knowledge of Grilo's work.

Madrid's CentroCentro approaches the artistic production related to the Amazon with the exhibition Trópico sin tópico: Amazonas (Tropic without Topic: Amazon), curated by Halim Badawi (Barranquilla, Colombia, 1982), and with which it intends to facilitate new looks beyond the usual ones with which the European imaginary contemplates the indigenous legacy and its relation with the contemporary world.

The 43rd edition of ARCOmadrid, Spain's International Contemporary Art Fair, has at its core the program The Shore, the Tide, the Current: An Oceanic Caribbean, which revolves around the artistic scenes of the territories connected by that sea.

ARCOmadrid, organized by IFEMA MADRID, closed its 40+1 Anniversary on Sunday with a commercial balance described by the participating galleries as very positive. The attractive presentation of galleries and artistic programs that have made up the contents of this edition have attracted a global figure of 75,000 visitors, among which were 30,000 art professionals.

Lexus, official partner of ARCOmadrid 2022, awarded for the second year the Prize for the Best Stand and Artistic Content of the edition with a prize of 10,000 euros. The purpose of the award is to highlight not only the great work that all the artists do in their galleries, but also those who stand out for their great presentation.

From February 23 to 27 in pavilions 7 and 9 of IFEMA Madrid, the 40 (+1) edition of the most important international art fair on the Iberian Peninsula will take place.

ARCOmadrid returns to its usual date to celebrate its 40 (+1) Anniversary, from February 23rd to 27th. A unique project set to bring past and present together through the galleries and their essential relationship with artists and collectors. 

Reactivating the market, promoting art sales and bringing about a reunion between contemporary art professionals have been the objectives that have driven the organization of this edition of ARCOmadrid 2021. These objectives have centered IFEMA MADRID's commitment to reanimate this essential event for boosting the art business, attracting great collectors from all over the world and discussing the immediate future of art. All of which lies on the essential axes of this edition: quality of the contents, internationality and presence of collectors.

Overcoming the distances and obstacles created by the global crisis, Latin American art continues to stand strong. With a specially designed section -REMITENTE-, created in collaboration with Mariano Mayer, ARCO is witness of a strong latin protagonism.

The 36-year-old Peruvian artist presented 'Papapatriarchy', an irony to the representation of the patriarchal figure that constitutes a reflection on the personal experiences of hers and many other women.

Her work De dos cuerpos vengo (From two bodies I come) has been chosen by an international jury of experts among the five finalist proposals that are exhibited these days at ARCOmadrid 2021. Antonio Fernández Alvira, Fernando García, Juan López and Belén Rodríguez, have been the other four creators who have been part of the fifth edition of this award

As a novelty this year, the presence of Latin America takes a different role and adjusted to reality. ARCOmadrid incorporates the REMITENTE. Latin American Art section, produced with the complicity of Mariano Mayer. The proposal shows the importance of Latin American art at the Fair and its essence is to facilitate and support the galleries that this time cannot travel to Madrid.

As a novelty this year, the presence of Latin America takes a different role and adjusted to reality. ARCOmadrid incorporates the section REMITENTE. Latin American Art, produced with the complicity of Mariano Mayer. The proposal shows the importance of Latin American art in the Fair and its essence is to facilitate and support the galleries that this time cannot travel to Madrid.

The Maria and Armando Cabral Collection, the Eulogio Sánchez Collection and the "la Caixa" Foundation Contemporary Art Collection have been awarded on this occasion for their artistic value and work in supporting the dissemination of contemporary art.

The fair will take place from July 7 to 11 with a special highlight on new protagonists. In addition to the General Program and the Opening Program, ARCO incorporates REMITENTE, a special Latin American art section and concentrates Artist Projects exclusively on women. In total, the fair will host 131 galleries, of which 54% are not Spanish.