ARCOmadrid 2012

Madrid puts its full weight behind an exciting programme of events to coincide with the art fair and attract large numbers of collectors and artworld professionals.

Solo Projects takes another step forward in its ongoing dialogue with Latin America as it holds the first Meeting between museum and art centre directors from Europe and Latin America.

Among the main novelties at ARCOmadrid is the spotlight at each stand on an artist chosen by the individual galleries themselves, the reduction in the minimum size of booths, and new initiatives to foster collecting and attract collectors and foreign artworld agents.

The 12th Istanbul Biennale is the framework chosen to open ARCOmadrid’s international promotional campaign, which will continue in upcoming months in various cities in Europe and America to heighten awareness of the content and projects for the 31st International Contemporary Art Fair. As usual, throughout the month of February the art fair will turn Madrid into the focus of attention for the contemporary art world. To this end, it is working on an exciting art and theory programme at the fair, as well as a carefully chosen invitational programme of collectors and renowned artworld professionals from all over the globe. The idea is to provide a fruitful experience at ARCOmadrid, as well as to drive activities targeting the main agents in the art market, plus a whole series of exhibitions across the city’s main museums and art centres.

Organised by IFEMA, ARCOmadrid is to be held from 15-19 February 2012, and will host around 190 art galleries from over 30 countries worldwide, with the Netherlands as its special guest country.

New introductions at ARCOmadrid

Following the changes introduced at the last edition of the fair, centred on reducing the size of the fair and lending a greater focus to collectors and the quality of the galleries taking part and the artworks on view, ARCOmadrid 2012 is presenting new initiatives conceived to add a further impulse to the fair and to continue its engagement with quality, as the key factor in selecting galleries.

At the same time, ARCOmadrid is introducing the original “Spotlight Artist” aimed at highlighting one artist at each stand. With this new initiative ARCOmadrid wishes to underscore its unique role within the calendar of art fairs and to reinforce its role as a source of information for the large numbers of collectors and professionals attending the fair every year. The idea is to give galleries an incentive to stage a special presentation of one of its artists, though this by no means implies that it dedicates its stand exclusively to the project. ARCOmadrid will then lend special attention to these artists in its press releases, and in a new publication designed specifically for this purpose. Furthermore, prior to the fair itself, ARCOmadrid will send the information on these spotlighted artists to all its invited critics and curators.

Finally, the upcoming edition of ARCOmadrid will be introducing a number of changes responding to suggestions and recommendations sent by galleries. Among these, worth underscoring is the reduction in the minimum size of stands to 40 m2, a solution that entails the disappearance of the ARCO 40 section as such, as well as considering a limit on the number of artists in smaller booths to ensure an optimum presentation.

Focus Netherlands – Guest Country

The role of the Netherlands as ARCOmadrid_2012’s special guest is another big attraction. With the collaboration of the Mondriaan Foundation and the Embassy of the Netherlands in Spain, ARCOmadrid 2012 will be presenting a selection of Dutch galleries, curated by Xander Karskens (Breda, 1973), and will bring to the fair a large number of the main players in the country’s art world, collectors, curators and critics. Holland’s presence in Madrid will be reinforced by ARCOmadrid’s collaboration with some of the city’s main institutions who will be hosting exhibitions and projects by Dutch artists. Among others, Museo Reina Sofía is preparing an exhibition by René Däniels, Casa Encendida a group show by Dutch artists, Matadero Madrid a one-person exhibition of Navid Nuur, and Centro de Arte Dos de Mayo a show by Aernout Mik.

Opening – Young European Galleries

Other contents at ARCOmadrid are the curated programmes conceived to give visitors to the fair an overview of the latest galleries and artists. In this regard, the art fair will be repeating the Opening section, targeting young European galleries with less than seven years of activity, curated this year by Manuel Segade.

Solo Projects – Latin America

Meanwhile, the Solo Projects programme will continue its focus on Latin American artists. This year, the section reinforces its role as a place to discover work by artists from Latin America with the help of a team of six curators: Cauê Alves (Brazil), Sonia Becce (Argentina), Patrick Charpenel (Mexico), Alexia Dumani (Costa Rica), Manuela Moscoso (Colombia) and José Ignacio Roca (Colombia). The selection of the projects is through open applications from all galleries who wish to propose a project by a Latin American artist. A team comprising the invited curators and a member of the committee will then select the most interesting projects to be shown at ARCOmadrid 2012.

Solo Projects will also serve as the backdrop for an exchange of ideas and projects between Latin America and Europe. This year will see the 1st Meeting between European & Latin American Institutions directed by Agustín Pérez-Rubio (director of MUSAC, León) and Marcelo Araujo (director of Pinacoteca de São Paulo). For the meeting we are expecting approximately 40 professionals from both sides of the Atlantic.

Collectors and artworld professionals

All ARCOmadrid activities are aimed at attracting leading Spanish and international collectors and critics to the fair. To this end it is again organising the International Collectors programme which invites around 200 collectors from all over the world; it is also repeating the "First Collectors" initiative and an invitation to leading art consultants. ARCOmadrid will also be organising visits by International Museum Groups, whose sponsors and associations of friends will be invited to visit the fair and take part in its many activities.

Besides these acts, we have the roundtables on collecting (coordinated by Rosa Martínez, Peter Doroshenko and Hossein Amirsadeghi) and the Professional Meetings, introduced for the first time in 2011. These meetings provided the setting for a fluid interchange of ideas between active artworld professionals, and brought about one hundred critics and curators to the fair, something judged very positively by participating galleries. The meetings this year are directed by, among others: Marc-Olivier Wahler, director of Palais de Tokyo; Hou Hanru, exhibitions director at San Francisco Art Institute, Hans Ulrich Obrist, co-director, Exhibitions and Programmes and director of International Projects, Serpentine Gallery in London; Bartomeu Marí, director of Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Barcelona (Macba); Inti Guerrero, art critic and freelance curator and James Lingwood, co-director of Artangel.

Collecting will also be the focus of attention at the lunch organised at the fair by the ARCOmadrid Foundation, with funds raised going towards purchasing a work of art to add to the foundation’s collection. The work acquired will be decided by all partakers at the lunch from among a shortlist drawn up by the foundation’s curators: Adriano Pedrosa and María Inés Rodríguez.

Collectors, artworld agents and other guests at the fair can avail of the VIP Lounge at ARCOmadrid, which will be featuring an extra special space this year. A competition of ideas for its design has been called in collaboration with the magazine AD Architectural Digest, and the winning entry is sure to raise much expectation.

GENERAL PROGRAMME AD HOC VIGO ADN BARCELONA ADORA CALVO SALAMANCA ALARCÓN CRIADO SEVILLA ALEJANDRA VON HARTZ MIAMI ALEX DANIELS - REFLEX AMSTERDAN AMSTERDAM ALFREDO VIÑAS MÁLAGA ALTXERRI SAN SEBASTIÁN ÁLVARO ALCÁZAR MADRID ANDERSEN´S COPENHAGEN ANDRÉ SIMOENS KNOKKE ÀNGELS BARCELONA BARCELONA ARKA GALLERY VLADIVOSTOK ART NUEVE MURCIA BACELOS VIGO BARBARA GROSS MUNICH BÄRBEL GRÄSSLIN FRANKFURT BASE GALLERY TOKYO BENVENISTE CONTEMPORARY MADRID BLAINSOUTHERN LONDON BRIGITTE SCHENK COLOGNE CÁNEM CAS TELLÓ DE LA PLANA CARDI BLACK BOX MILAN CARLES TACHÉ BARCELONA CARLIER I GEBAUER BERLIN CARLOS CARVALHO- ARTE CONTEMPORÂNEA LISBON CARRERAS MUGICA BILBAO CASA SIN FIN CÁCERES CASA TRIÁNGULO SAO PAULO CASADO SANTAPAU MADRID CATHERINE PUTMAN PARIS CAYÓN MADRID CHANTAL CROUSEL PARIS CHELOUCHE GALLERY TEL AVIV CHERRY AND MARTIN LOS ANGELES CHRISTIAN LETHERT COLOGNE CHRISTOPHER GRIMES SANTA MÓNICA DAN GALERIA SAO PAULO DISTRITO 4 MADRID DNA GALERIE BERLIN EDWARD TYLER NAHEM FINE ART NEW YORK EL MUSEO BOGOTÁ ELBA BENÍTEZ MADR ID ELISABETH & KLAUS THOMAN INNSBRUCK ELVIRA GONZÁLEZ MADRID ENRICO ASTUNI BOLOGNA ESPACIO LÍQUIDO GIJÓN ESPACIO MÍNIMO MADRID ESPAIVISOR - GALERÍA VISOR VALENCIA ESTHER SCHIPPER BERLIN ESTRANY - DE LA MOTA BARCELONA FAGGIONATO FINE ARTS LONDON FILOMENA SOARES LISBON FONSECA MACEDO PONTA DELGADA FORMATO CÓMODO MADRID FRUIT&FLOWER DELI STOCKHOLM FÚCARES MADRID GALERIA 111 LISBON GENTILI PRATO GEORG KARGL VIENNA GEORG NOTHELFER GALERIE BERLIN GRAÇA BRANDAO LISBON GUELMAN GALLERY MOSCOW GUILLERMO DE OSMA MADRID HANS MAYER DUS SELDORF HEIDIGALERIE NANTES HEINRICH EHRHARDT MADRID HEINZ HOLTMANN COLOGNE HELGA DE ALVEAR MADRID HENRIQUE FARIA NEW YORK HILGER MODERN/CONTEMPORARY VIENNA HOET BEKAERT GHENT HORRACH MOYÁ PALMA DE MALLORCA IVORYPRESS MADRID JEROME ZODO MILAN JM MÁLAGA JOAN PRATS BARCELONA JORGE MARA-LA RUCHE BUENOS AIRES JUAN SILIÓ SANTANDER JUANA DE AIZPURU MADRID KABE CONTEMPORARY MIAMI KAI HILGEMANN BERLIN KRINZINGER VIENNA KUCKEI + KUCKEI BERLIN LA CAJA NEGRA MADRID LA FÁBRICA MADRID LEANDRO NAVARRO MADRID LELONG PARIS LEVY HAMBURG&nb sp;LEYENDECKER SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE LÓPEZ-SEQUEIRA MADRID LUCIANA BRITO SAO PAULO LUIS ADELANTADO VALENCIA LUIS CAMPAÑA BERLIN MAI 36 GALERIE ZURICH MAIOR POLLENÇA MAISTERRAVALBUENA MADRID MARINA GISICH SAINT PETESBURG MARLBOROUGH GALLERY MADRID MARTA CERVERA MADRID MAS ART GALERÍA BARCELONA MAX ESTRELLA MADRID MAX WEBER SIX FRIEDRICH MUNICH MAX WIGRAM LONDON MEESSEN DE CLERCQ BRUSSELS MEHDI CHOUAKRI BERLIN MICHAEL SCHULTZ BERLIN MICHEL SOSKINE, INC. MADRID / NEW YORK MICHELINE SZWAJCER ANTWERP MIGUEL MARCOS BARCELONA MIGUEL NABINHO LISBON MOISÉS PÉREZ DE ALBÉNIZ PAMPLONA MORIARTY MADRID NÄCHST ST. STEPHAN ROSEMARIE SCHWARZWÄLDER VIENNA NADJA VILENNE LIEGE NF NIEVES FERNÁNDEZ MADRID NOGUERAS BLANCHARD BARCELONA NUBLE SANTANDER NUSSER & BAUMGART MUNICH OLIVA ARAUNA MADRID ORIOL GALERIA D'ART BARCELONA PALMA DOTZE VILAFRANCA DEL PENEDÉS PAPERWORKS MOSCOW PARAGON PRESS LONDON PARRA & ROMERO MADRID PEDRO CERA LISBON PELAIRES PALMA DE MALLORCA PILAR SERRA MADRID POLÍGRAFA OBRA GRÁFICA BARCELONA PROJECTB MILAN PROJECTESD BARCELONA PROMETEOGALLERY MILAN QUADRADO AZUL PORTO RAFAEL ORTIZ SEVILLA RAIÑA LUPA BARCELONA RAQUEL PONCE MADRID ROBERTS & TILTON LOS ANGELES ROSA SANTOS VALENCIA SABINE KNUST MUNICH SCQ SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA SENDA BARCELONA SOLEDAD LORENZO MADRID STEFAN RÖPKE COLOGNE T20 MURCIA THOMAS SCHULTE BERLIN TIM VAN LAERE ANTWERP TONI TÀPIES BARCELONA TORBANDENA TRIESTE TRAVESÍA CUATRO MADRID TRAYECTO VITORIA TRIUMPH GALLERY MOSCÚ VALLE ORTÍ VALENCIA VANGUARDIA BILBAO VERA CORTÉS LISBON WALTER STORMS MUNICH XAVIER FIOL PALMA DE MALLORCA YBAKATU ESPAÇO DE ARTE CURITIBA ZINK MUNICH

FOCUS: THE NETHERLANDS ANNET GELINK AMSTERDAM DIANA STIGTER AMSTERDAM ELLEN DE BRUIJNE PROJECTS AMSTERDAM FONS WELTERS AMSTERDAM GRIMM GALLERY AMSTERDAM JEANINE HOFLAND AMSTERDAM JULIETTE JONGMA AMSTERDAM MARTIN VAN ZOMEREN AMSTERDAM MOTIVE GALLERY AMSTERDAM PAUL ANDRIESSE AMSTERDAM TEGENBOSCHVANVREDEN AMSTERDAM WEST THE HAGUE WILFRIED LENTZ ROTTERDAM ZINGERPRESENTS AMSTERDAM

OPENING AANANT & ZOO BERLIN ARCADE LONDON ARRATIA, BEER BERLIN CAROLINE PAGÈS LISBON CREVECOEUR PARIS DOHYANG LEE PARIS FIGGE VON ROSEN BERLIN IMO PROJECTS COPENHAGEN ISABELLA BORTOLOZZI BERLIN IVAN GALERIA BUCAREST JEANINE HOFLAND AMSTERDAM KLEMM´S BERLIN LAUTOM CONTEMPORARY OSLO LOKAL_30 WARSAW MONITOR ROMA MOR.CHARPENTIER PARIS NORMA MANGIONE TURIN NUNO CENTENO PORTO PERES PROJECTS BERLIN PLAN B CLUJ/BERLIN POST-BOX LONDON TANYA LEIGHTON BERLIN TATJANA PIETERS GHENT TEGENBOSCHVANVREDEN AMSTERDAM

SOLO PROJECTS: FOCUS LATIN AMERICA 80 m2 LIMA ALBERTO SENDROS BUENOS AIRES ARRÓNIZ MEXICO DF BENVENISTE CONTEMPORARY MADRID CHRISTINGER DE MAYO ZURICH DES PACIO SAN JOSÉ DIABLOROSSO PANAMÁ ESPACIO MÍNIMO MADRID FILOMENA SOARES LISBON IGNACIO LIPRANDI BUENOS AIRES ISABEL ANINAT SANTIAGO DE CHILE LUCIANA BRITO SAO PAULO MIRTA DEMARE ROTTERDAM NUEVEOCHENTA BOGOTÁ PLATAFORMA ARTE CONTEMPORANEO GUADALAJARA RUTH BENZACAR BUENOS AIRES SICARDI HOUSTON TONI TÀPIES BARCELONA TRANSVERSAL SAO PAULO VASARI BUENOS AIRES VERMELHO SAO PAULO VOGT GALLERY NEW YORK ZAVALETA LAB BUENOS AIRES

ARCOmadrid 2012
31th International Contemporary Art Fair