Art Madrid'25 – A LOOK AT CONTEMPORARY GEOMETRY

The work of Ana Pais Oliveira, Iván Baizán and Rubén Fernández Castón starts from a shared interest in geometry and its plastic translation. The proposal of these creators conveys a clear interest in the construction of new physical spaces with which to body their concern for the environment and the role of the individual in the urban environment. On many occasions, it is about proposing alternative buildings, imaginary architectures that defy natural laws; in others, giving way to a geometric abstraction where the volumes are defined by contrasts of colour.

Rubén Fernández Castón

Entrelíneas III, 2016

Acrylic on wood

55 x 42cm

Ana Pais Oliveira

Heavy drawing #26, 2017

Mixed media on cardboard

70 x 50cm

Iván Baizán

XV (de la serie "Usted no está aquí"), 2018

Serigrafía, acrílico, poliestireno y papel montado en caja de madera (obra enmarcada en caja y cristal)

40 x 30cm

If something characterises contemporary geometry, is its ambition to exploit the plastic possibilities of the materials to generate the illusion of volume and depth from the linearity of the flat support. It is, in reality, a hand extended to the viewer, an invitation to transcend the physical limitations of our three-dimensional space to give free rein to alternative realities, to floating constructions, to buildings without support points, to impossible materials.

This is one of the strong points of the work of Iván Baizán. The pieces of the collection "In the limits of the structure" develops one of the most paradigmatic facets of this artist, specialised in engraving and printing. His work offers urban cartography based on the superposition of planes and the communicative power of colour. In the form of exquisite wooden boxes, his last works are like windows open to a new universe, the one where man has taken the reins of his time and space, where it is not necessary to live corseted by inherited forms and unbreakable laws. Its floating architectures pose a paradox in a perfect aesthetic balance that combines materials, design and staging.

Iván Baizán

VI (de la serie "Usted no está aquí"), 2017

Serigrafía, acrílico, poliestireno y papel montado en caja de madera (obra enmarcada en caja y cristal)

100 x 80cm

Iván Baizán

II (de la serie "Usted no está aquí"), 2017

Serigrafía, acrílico, poliestireno y papel montado en caja de madera (obra enmarcada en caja y cristal)

100 x 80cm

The Portuguese Ana Pais Oliveira follows a similar line. Her work is a compendium of structures where architecture is very present. All her work conveys that tricky balance between the colourist abstraction and the game of textures in a display of proposals that go from painting on canvas to collage on cardboard. Constructions of the imagination that make their way around two fundamental ideas: line and colour. The geometry of Ana Pais is solid and wide; it expands in ambitious formats and with friendly tones that transfer to the support the utopia of the impossible architectures.

Ana Pais Oliveira

Heavy drawing #35, 2017

Mixed media on cardboard

70 x 50cm

Ana Pais Oliveira

Heavy drawing #32, 2017

Mixed media on cardboard

70 x 50cm

Ana Pais Oliveira

Heavy drawing #40, 2017

Mixed media on cardboard

70 x 50cm

For his part, Rubén Fernández Castón exceeds the limits of traditional painting to create works that approach sculpture. His most recent work applies geometry to pieces that develop on two sides and participate in the double game of illusion, the "meta-geometry", inside and outside the work itself. With flat and clean colour strokes, the contours are created by opposition, with a dance of contrasts that risks with shocking tones, without overlapping, neat, concise and pure.

Rubén Fernández Castón

Entrelíneas IV, 2016

Acrylic on wood

59 x 40cm

Rubén Fernández Castón

Entrelíneas V, 2016

Acrylic on wood

60 x 40cm

|354:150

From July 7 to 9, 2025, the Balsera Palace will host the First Course on Collecting and Contemporary Art, an intensive 15-hour program that will explore the complex and fundamental question of taste in contemporary art. Organized by the Nebrija Institute of Arts and Humanities at Nebrija University and the Avilés City Council, in collaboration with 9915 — Association of Private Collectors of Contemporary Art and the Institute of Contemporary Art, the course offers a unique opportunity for analysis and debate on the dynamics that shape aesthetic and symbolic value in today’s art scene.


First Course on Collecting and Contemporary Art. Avilés, Asturias


The notion of taste, intrinsically tied to aesthetic judgments and power relations, has played a decisive role in the historical prominence of artists and artworks. However, contemporary art—marked by its breaking of conventions, diversity of media and techniques, and critical stance toward traditional canons—raises fundamental questions about the continued relevance of this concept.

This course will explore how the decisions made by key players in the art system—institutions, private collections, galleries, curators, and artists—continually redefine a field of taste shaped by aesthetic, symbolic, cultural, social, and political logics.


"¿But does it exist, and what is the prevailing taste of our time—so seemingly confused, fragmented, indecipherable?" - Omar Calabrese, The Neo-Baroque Era.


The academic program, directed by José Luis Guijarro Alonso, Director of the Master’s in Art Market and Related Business Management at Nebrija University, and Pablo Álvarez de Toledo, Head of the Department of Arts at Nebrija University and the Nebrija Institute of Arts and Humanities, will bring together a distinguished group of national experts—including collectors, critics, curators, gallery owners, and artists—whose contributions will address key issues in shaping aesthetic, symbolic, and market value in today’s art world.


PROGRAM

MONDAY, JULY 7

9:30 AM Registration.

10:00 AM Course Opening Nebrija University Avilés City Council Presented by Rosario López Meras – President of the Association of Contemporary Art Collectors, 9915, and Adrián Piera – President of the ICA, Institute of Contemporary Art.

10:30 AM Course Presentation By José Luis Guijarro Alonso – Art Historian and Anthropologist, Researcher, and Director of the Master’s in Art Market and Related Business Management at Nebrija University.

11:00 AM Coffee Break.

11:30 AM Panel Discussion The Taste of Private Collecting as a Prelude to History. Speakers: Candela Álvarez Soldevilla – Entrepreneur and Collector; Javier Quilis – INELCOM Collection; José Miguel Vegas Valle – Collector. Moderator: Luis Feás – Critic and Curator.

1:00 PM Lunch Break.

3:30 PM Individual Lecture On Good Taste in Contemporary Art. Speaker: Marisol Salanova – Curator and Art Critic, Director of Arteinformado.

4:45 PM Panel Discussion The Influence of Galleries in Shaping Contemporary Taste. Speakers: Elba Benítez – Gallerist; Ricardo Pernas – Gallerist (Arniches 26); Aurora Vigil-Escalera – Gallerist. Moderator: Rafael Martín – Coleccion@casamer.

6:00 PM End of Day.

6:30 PM Activity and Cocktail Visit to the Exhibition Asturian Artists in the Pérez Simón Collection – Avilés.

TUESDAY, JULY 8

10:00 AM Individual Lecture Contemporary (Bad) Taste: Kitsch, Camp, and Tacky. Speaker: Julio Pérez Manzanares – Autonomous University of Madrid.

11:00 AM Coffee Break.

11:30 AM Panel Discussion Institutions and the Formation of Contemporary Taste. Speakers: Virginia López – Artist, Founder of PACA_Proyectos Artísticos Casa Antonino; Julieta de Haro – Artistic Director of CentroCentro; Carlos Urroz – Director of Institutional Relations, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía. Moderator: Laura Gutiérrez – Director, School of Art of Oviedo.

1:00 PM Lunch Break.

3:30 PM Panel Discussion Beyond the Eye: The Taste for Ethical, Ecological, Social, or Political Concerns in Contemporary Art. Speakers: Semíramis González – Independent Curator; Eugenio Ampudia – Artist; Claudia Rodríguez-Ponga – Independent Curator. Moderator: Bárbara Mur Borrás – PhD in Fine Arts.

5:00 PM End of Day.

5:30 PM Activity Visit to the Studiolo Exhibition – Candela Álvarez Soldevilla Collection.

WEDNESDAY, JULY 9

9:30 AM Meeting with Asturian Artists Speakers: María Castellanos – Artist; Avelino Sala – Artist; Consuelo Vallina – Artist. Moderator: Pablo Álvarez de Toledo – Nebrija University.

11:00 AM Activity Visit to the Niemeyer Center – Avilés.

Course Closing Ceremony.





This course is designed for art professionals, collectors, researchers, and students seeking an in-depth analysis of the dynamics that shape taste and collecting practices in contemporary art. Adopting a critical and multidisciplinary perspective, it provides a unique opportunity to rigorously examine the aesthetic, symbolic, and structural factors that underpin the legitimization of contemporary art.