The city was a party: Arco and all the Madrid hustle and bustle

On the occasion of the 25th anniversary of bonart and the presentation of issue 201 of the magazine in Catalan (with covers by Sean Scully, who inaugurated an exhibition at La Pedrera, and by Camila Cañeque in Malart, an ill-fated artist of brilliant talent) and the new edition of bonart in Spanish, which we have named issue 0 and with a cover by Bernardí Roig, we were once again present with a stand at the ARCO fair in Madrid. And we did so by presenting a monograph dedicated to the “Museu Habitat”, the initiative promoted by the Generalitat de Catalunya and led by Manuel Borja-Villel and with the presence of the former director of the Reina Sofia Museum and one of the people who knows the most about museums, controversies over his incorporation aside. We also presented a monograph dedicated to the 30 years of La Capella, with a text by David Armengol, its artistic director, who reviews the last three decades of the center and emphasizes its key role as a platform for emerging creation, as well as its resistance throughout these years.

And not only were we present at ARCO, the most important fair in southern Europe and one of the most relevant worldwide, but we also traveled with collaboration agreements for Urvanity, Art Madrid and Just Madrid and visited Hibrid and SAM. In total, Madrid was a party of art, culture, joy, artists, stress, gallery owners, dinners, collectors, meetings, visits, glamour, museums, aphonia, a bit of nonsense consubstantial to the elitism of the arts sector, adrenaline and a bit of revelry. I needed a week to recover from this whole roller coaster and be able to write the article with peace of mind. Remembering, however, that the magazines did not physically arrive until the last moment, things from the live show, and that we were present at our own stand, at an ARCE (Association of Cultural Magazines of Spain) stand and in one of the Arts Libris spaces within ARCO. Arts Libris another great initiative that gallerist Rocío Santacruz has been leading for a decade.

This year, we made a special effort and a good chunk of the bonart team -Alexandra, Carlota, Nora- moved to Madrid, where we opened our headquarters and have a new collaborator-coordinator -Fernando- to cover internationalization. An art week, the meeting point that the beginning of March has become on the world calendar in the Spanish capital. The presence of international agents is undeniable and the fair, depending on who you talk to, is going well, very well or badly. The fact is that I went there by car -electric, like the scaléxtrics, as a good friend always reminds me- I hadn't done so in years. And on the way, I took the opportunity to stop in Zaragoza to charge and look at an exhibition. Zaragoza, a city that I like for its contrasts and that is in the center of everything and in the center of nothing. The fact is that I visited the Lonja, a wonderful space next to the Pilar and where the Bassat collection had landed. Impressive and extraordinary works danced under the curatorship of Noa Omedes who had to weather the diversity to establish a simple but effective discourse. Well, the first day of ARCO, Wednesday, was very intense, I would even say too much to have peace of mind so that collectors and gallerists -with the support of the artists- could negotiate the purchase/sale of the works, in a setting prepared for months and that becomes an ephemeral and overwhelming museum in a few days. Miguel Marcos, Senda, Mayoral, Zielinsky, ADN… or Ropac, Lelong, Leandro Navarro… or Albarrán Bourdais, Anita Beckers, Thomas Schulte, Livia Benavides, Casa Riegner, Helga de Alvear -who recently disappeared and to whom applause was dedicated at the start of the fair-… They were all there and also foundations like Miró, in a joint stand with Barcelona Tourism and with the presence of Sara Puig -president- and Marko Daniel -director-, a stand of the Vila Casas foundation that presents an award dedicated to its founder and also a space dedicated to Jaume Plensa, impressive, by the newspaper El País, among others. We were able to talk to Jaume Plensa for a long time, with him and with his inseparable companion, Laura. It is a pleasure to see how this artist is a flag at an international level, he is our contemporary Miró, Picasso, Dalí, Tàpies. A man who has earned it by dust for years and with intelligence, tenacity and creativity. In Madrid this week he was omnipresent everywhere. The Telefónica Foundation's retrospective on him was magnificent.

Thursday was the day to split up, some to ARCO and others to visit other events. But before that, the presentation of Joana Cera's exhibition in the exhibition halls of the Blanquerna space of the Generalitat de Catalunya in Madrid, which will have to find a new location. An initiative of the Vila Casas Foundation, under the curatorship of Natàlia Chocarro and with the support of the general director of the entity, Joan Torras and the vice president, Montserrat Viladomiu. A Catalan meeting point with friends and agents involved in the country's culture. There was everyone from the Minister of Culture of the Catalan Government, Sònia Hernández, to the director of the ICEC, Edgar Garcia, Marta Gustà also from the ICEC in the field of Visual Arts, Jesús Navarro, director of the Morera Museum, the artist Carla Tarruella... I would also like to highlight the visit to the Matadero cultural center, where the Urvanity fair is organized and where I greeted good friends such as the artist Rosalía Banet, with a new studio in Madrid and who went hand in hand with the Espacio Mínimo + la Gran gallery, or the gallerist Víctor Lope from Barcelona, the gallerist Pep Llabrés advised by Tomeu Simonet, the artist and cultural manager of ses Illes.

Also interesting are Valerie's Factory in Argentina or Whitestone Gallery Tokyo. At Matadero, a name that is at least curious and that could make us go back, a former slaughterhouse with a powerful, beautiful, functional and rational industrial architecture, Luisa Espino, the director of the space's residences, showed us the entire project. Among them, the Barcelonan Aldo Urbano who was doing a stay and who, in addition, had a spectacular tarot card installation in Arco by the Bombon gallery. Aldo is a curious and magical man, who is preparing El asalto de los pillos, a comic that combines humor with exaggerated mysticism. We were also able to greet the people of "Debajo el sombrero", an entity that projects artists with other capacities, a luxury of first-level socio-artistic work. Lastly, the artist Ana Esteve Reig presented a poetic and at the same time disturbing video art about the uses of technology among young people, "gamers" - professional video game players who spend half their lives in front of a screen.

Friday was the turn of the visit to the Mapfre Foundation, a luxury to open the space for us for a private visit. The exhibitions 1924, other surrealisms or Sakiko Nomura were the highlights. And leaving the exhibitions, again towards ARCO which lacks people. In the afternoon, visit to the fair, accompanied by one of the bonart advisors, Jordi Bosch, someone who knows everyone in Madrid, a Girona native who has been traveling through the Spanish capital and the media for almost four decades. We crossed paths with Creuheras from Planeta and the director of Confidencial. And at five, presentation of the magazine at the stand of the gallery Miguel Marcos, a founding gallerist of the Madrid fair, who knows a lot about everything - too much and everything - and who welcomed us, like last year, in an excellent way. Manuel Borja Villel, one of the gurus of international museology, Lola Lasurt -transdisciplinary artist me -trafficking in complicity- in front of more than fifty people, microphone in hand and explaining the reason for it all. Thanks to Maribel López, the Barcelona director of Arco, for her complicity. And above our heads, a striking sculpture by Bernardí Roig, the same one on the cover of the Spanish edition, a contemporary crucified Christ -Ecce Homo- that was illuminating us with neon light, as Malevich would say, the light of the 21st century. On Saturday, the Mallorcan artist gave us a guided tour of his impressive exhibition at the National Archaeology Museum in Madrid, where contemporary and ancient dialogue with intense harmony thanks to his good work and that of the Max Estrella gallery. And then, with friends Lluís Coromina and Joan Marí Vall, who came to the presentation among others - thank everyone present, including critics Fernando Castro, Joan Gil, Conxita Oliver, Montse Badia, Javiera and Javier Bonilla, Joan Abelló, the director of the Sorigué foundation, Gemma Avinyó... - we ended up in Madrid, which was a party, enjoying a few days of art, creativity, tarot, company, fatigue, flamenco and joy.