Madrid (EFE).- ARCO 2023, a key event in the Spanish contemporary art market, has everything ready for an edition that this year looks to the south, with the Mediterranean as its main theme, and the participation of 211 galleries -31 more than in 2022- and more than 400 confirmed collectors from 40 countries, a record.
“The feeling is very positive” summarized today Maribel López, director of the fair, which will be held at Ifema from February 22 to 26. So much so, that the organization hopes to recover this year the 90,000 visitors it reached in the pre-pandemic.
Like every edition, ARCO will have two curated programmes: Opening, which will bring together the youngest galleries, and «Never the same. Latin American Art”, with proposals from Latin America (11 galleries).
In parallel, there will be an endless number of exhibitions and projects that will fill the city of Madrid with contemporary art.
More international galleries
The number of participating galleries rises to 211, but what is most striking is that most of this increase corresponds to international galleries, with a total of 140 (66%) and of this number, 29% are Latin American, which up to the year In the past, their presence was affected by the pandemic.
The general feeling is that of a return to a fair very similar to the euphoria prior to the pandemic and the Ukrainian War.
The barrage of requests to participate has been such that the fair has tried to maintain the “balance between supply and demand”, while protecting the presence of Spanish galleries, which has not suffered compared to previous years, as explained by López.
Names that have not been at the fair for years such as Captain Petzel, Contemporary Fine Arts, David Zwirner, Mendes Wood DM or Timothy Taylor return, and join those that repeat year after year such as Perrotin, Chantal Crousel, Giorgio Persano, Lelong Krinzinger or Thaddaeus C clothes.
In the Spanish section they repeat key names such as Helga de Alvear, Elvira Gonzalez, Juana de Aizpuru, Mayoral, Jose de la Mano, Maisterravalbuena or Sabrina Amrani.
One of the keys to the expectation of the fair is the number of participants in the International Buyers Program, which this year will bring nearly 400 collectors and 200 professionals from 40 countries to Madrid, a record.
looking south
ARCO 2023 looks at this 42nd edition to the south, specifically to the Mediterranean. Instead of choosing a country, the fair has opted for a geographical area with the motto “The Mediterranean: A Round Sea”.
“It’s a way to open your sights,” according to López. The section, curated by Marina Fokidis, will take the pulse of the region through the proposal of some twenty galleries from Croatia to Egypt and from Israel to France.
«The Mediterranean Sea is round: so is the skirt of a dervish, the repeated twist of a dancer or the shape of a traditional Greek dance»; points out Fokidis’ presentation text, which points to the square -or the souk, the bazaar, the agora- as the best context to approach this space.
art and woman
The Artist Projects, a space that in the last two years was dedicated to women’s works, this year will no longer have that requirement, despite the criticism that the fair has suffered in recent times due to the lack of representation of female artists.
“The presence of women is something that is increasingly incorporated into galleries, especially young ones -López explained- (…) there is still a long way to go, but it has been shortened”.
This year, 20 spaces distributed at the fair will be chosen to present individual projects by artists (15 women and 5 men) such as Jan Zöller, Pae White, Cristina Mejias, Diana Larrea, Manolo Gil or Teresa Margolles.
A leap in quality
«ARCO has known how to evolve. It has three axes: attracting large galleries, raising the artistic level and a powerful collector program. It is an effective market instrument,” said Juan Arrizabalaga, director of Ifema.
“In recent years, ARCO has made a leap in quality,” defends its director, who is convinced that Madrid is a “very different” fair, which combines its identity as a “commercial space” with a “cultural function that Never forget”.
