criticas deconstructivas: ARCO MADRID 2016

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 20^th 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.