ARCO MADRID
24-28 FEBRERO 2016
Now that ARCO 2016
has finished and its hangover has been overcome it is time to come to a
conclusion about this art fair.
Everyone
visiting ARCO yearly expects some repetitive content which provide its especial
identity. Because ARCO in particular and contemporary art in general, would not
be the same without its blinding artworks made by lights and mirrors. And this
edition could not offer anything different.
Indeed at the
entrance of the first pavilion there was the space of The Lisson Gallery
showing a stunning glossy sculpture by Anish Kapoor that could not have been
made of any material other than small pieces of mirrors. That magic material that
caught the attention of every visitor. So that masterpiece had the
responsibility to welcome the visitors and announce that this year ARCO would
not disappoint anybody.
I have to
admit that it has been a few years since my last visit to ARCO, and my expectations
have not only been reached, but overcome too.
It is true
that this year was missing a controversial artwork providing bad reputation to
the fair, but providing a massive publicity to the event. But this lack has
helped each gallery and each piece of art to have its own space in the fair.
In general I
found less poetic artwork and more cosmetic ones than in previous editions. And
very little of them were related to the topics of sex, religion or politicians,
as they used to present, instead there was a more committed message about
contemporary refugees.
In addition,
the appearance of the artworks has gained colour and visual effects, reminding us
of the psychedelic aesthetic of 80’s, which has a connotative meaning: the world
economy is growing, so people are happier and brave enough to take risks, especially
in the field of art, which means that sooner we will visit a crazy renovation
of art full of gaudy pieces.
This artistic
renovation was in the artist’s hands, but part of its success was due on
gallery owners, who after suffer some darks years in which the art trade was in
decline, and have needed to make an effort to select high quality masterpieces
and curate a better display of them.
Those are some
things that made ARCO 2016 a complete success, but we can not forget some repetitive
evidence.
Spanish gallery
owners are still afraid to encourage young artist and they prefer to secure
sales by offering pieces of art made by the greatest artists of the 20th
century, such as Picasso, Miró or Dalí, and some Spanish contemporary
established artists like Tapies, Millares, Saura or Juan Muñoz. Meanwhile European
galleries combine artwork by Günter Brüss, Julian Opie, Sol Lewitt or Anthony
Caro in dialogue with risky young artists.
But this is
ARCO, and this is the reality of contemporary art in Spain.
ARCO MADRID 2016 by aAlonso is licensed under a Creative Commons Reconocimiento-NoComercial-SinObraDerivada 4.0 Internacional License.
