The ARCOmadrid Contemporary Art Fair, in Spain, returns in this year's edition to pre-pandemic participation levels, with 211 galleries from 36 countries, including 17 Portuguese ones, revealed the organization. At the 42nd edition of ARCOmadrid, between February 22nd and 26th, around 90,000 visitors are still expected, a figure "very close" to that of 2020, the last edition without the impact of the covid-19 pandemic, he said in an interview. press conference, Juan Arrizabalaga, the director of IFEMA - Feria de Madrid, the space that hosts the event and co-organizes it. Globally, 36 countries are represented this year, with 170 galleries in the general programme, in addition to those included in the sections "Mediterranean: A Round Sea", with 19 galleries, "Opening", with 17, and "Never the same . Latin American Art", with 11.
Among the 170 galleries in the general program there are 15 Portuguese: 3+1 Arte Contemporânea, Balcony, Bruno Múrias, Carlos Carvalho, Cristina Guerra Contemporary Art, Filomena Soares, Francisco Fino, Miguel Nabinho, Monitor, Uma Lulik, Pedro Cera and Vera Cortês, all from Lisbon, plus Kubikgallery, Lehmann + Silva and Quadrado Azul, from Porto. Galeria Foco, from Lisbon, will be included in the "Opening" section, and Madragoa, also in the Portuguese capital, will be in the "Nunca o mim. Latin-American art" section, curated by Mariano Mayer and Manuela Moscoso. Also participating in the general program is Jahn und Jahn, which is based in Munich, Germany, and also has a space in Lisbon. Continuing the investigation of past, present and future artistic practices, the organization highlights the entry of new international galleries for this edition.
In the overall program there will be around 30 galleries participating for the first time or returning after many years, such as Captain Petzel, Contemporary Fine Arts, David Zwirner, Nicolai Wallner, Rüdiger Schöttle and Timothy Taylor. The section "Mediterranean: A round sea", curated by Marina Fokidis, with the support of Bouchra Khalili, Hila Peleg and Pedro G. Romero, intends to mobilize relations in this geographical area, and presents 19 galleries from 13 countries, with work by artists such as Anna Boghiguian, Iman Issa, Jumana Manna and Hana Miletic. The "Opening" space will once again be focused on discovering new proposals, in a selection by Julia Morandeira and Yina Jiménez Suriel, with bets on 17 young international galleries, including Foro.Space, Pequod Co., The Liminal and Zina. In this section, the Brazilian Hoa Galeria, from São Paulo, will be present, but the fair also hosts Galeria Vermelho and Jaqueline Martins, from the same city in Brazil. In the "Never the same, Latin American Art" section, which aims to contribute to strengthening research in this region and strengthening ties with the other agents at the fair, will be, among the 11 galleries, Max Mayer, Karen Huber, Crisis, Proyectos Ultravioleta and Hache. Directed by Maribel López Zambrana, the 42nd ARCOmadrid also has a parallel program for exhibitors, including a debate forum dedicated to the Mediterranean region.