When we talk of ephemeral art we think of works that are produced at a certain time and place, therefore, we tend to identify them with performance or happening. Artistic events are a very interesting facet of the new contemporaneity which thrill artists. One wants to overcome the traditional vision of static art, embodied in tangible support, to transform it into an experience. Installation art responds to this same idea. It is more like a fixed sculpture, but it usually incorporates elements that add movement, image or sound to the piece, in addition to being designed to last a certain time. With these ingredients, installations make their way into the rooms of museums, galleries, cultural centres and even the urban space, where it is easier to access because its occupation is only temporary.

Dan Flavin, light installation “Supernatural Breakdancer”, Menil Collection, 1996

Installation art is a manifestation that began in the 50´s of the last century, although in recent decades it has gained unsuspected attention thanks to some gigantic interventions by world-known artists. Its purpose is linked to the goals of conceptual art, the paradigm of contemporary expression since its beginnings. For this reason, installations are usually designed for a specific space, they are made for a particular place so that the discourse they convey is understood. For this reason, too, they are difficult to move and reproduce, as they will always require adjustment to the new placement.

Anish Kapoor, “Shooting into the Corner II”, 2008-2009 © Photo: Dave Morgan

On the other hand, the installation, like other manifestations of ephemeral art, seeks interaction with the viewer. Thus, as we said, it is not a question of creating an expanded sculptural piece that occupies the exhibition surface, but of creating a peculiar work, thought to motivate dialogue, in which outside-the-art-world elements or contributions from other disciplines are often incorporated, such as video, sound, technology... The aim is to delve into that message to be transmitted.

Eugenio Ampudia, “Sostener el infinito en la palma de la mano”, Sala Alcalá 31, 2019

The definition seems broad, however, any contact with an installation makes us easily appreciate the difference with sculpture. The latter is thought from a more classical conception of a static and enduring object, no matter how novel the topic and aesthetics are. The installation is precisely the opposite: it seeks the momentary, the impact of the discourse based on the arrangement of tangible elements and conceptual connections that will later disappear. In this sense, it is linked to experimental art, a context in which many art movements were born that incorporate movement and concept in their essence.

Olafur Eliasson placed this installation made from Greenland icebergs pieces in different locations of London to raise awareness on global warming

The versatility of installation art is practically infinite. The current means allow these works to be given a previously unknown dimension, either by integrating aspects related to technique and programming that blur the edges between installation or technological art or by the use of materials that allow working on a different scale. Likewise, installation of the new millennium may seek a bigger impact than a discourse purpose, or, on the opposite, serve to channel many of the concerns that we have today as a society, something that is characteristic of contemporary art in its many manifestations.

Kaws, installation into Hong Kong harbour, Photo: PH Yang

What is clear is that the installation, and especially the oversized one, is trendy in today’s contemporary creation world. Some well-known artists trust in this discipline when they design their exhibitions, and for this, they seek the complicity of the great museums and exhibition rooms, or of the cities themselves. It is the best method to spread their message, and to achieve the intended impact, many times one has to attract the public's attention going big.

Art Madrid celebrates its twenty years of contemporary art in 2025, establishing itself as a key event within the cultural sector in Spain. For its 20th edition, the fair will feature a Gallery Program with thirty-four national and international exhibitors, along with an extensive Parallel Program focused on the conceptual theme: City Territory. Here, we share all the details we've prepared for our upcoming encounter with contemporary art.

The public space, the city, and territory will be the concepts around which the different specialized agents in the sector will present their visions on how artistic practices impact the urban environment. The sensory experience will be fundamental in shaping the work that explores the connections between art, territory as a liminal space, and the city as a sensitive social agora. The activities developed in the Parallel Program will serve as a bridge to practices emerging from shifting identities and spatial imaginaries that revitalize the cultural geography of Madrid. The city, understood as a permeable organism and a topography of shared meanings, becomes the stage for a sensitive exploration of the impact of art on the spaces we inhabit.

CHOU Ching Hui. A Promised Land. The Planet of Angels No.5. Photography. 2024.

The concept of territory, a blurred boundary between the public and the private, takes on new meanings when artistic practices address the invisible traces of everyday life. The streets, squares, and corners of Madrid are reimagined as symbolic landscapes that challenge the familiar gaze. Here, the city is a palimpsest where the gestures of the past engage in conversation with visions of a future still under construction. In this setting, the sensory experience becomes a bridge connecting the ephemeral with the enduring, the intimate with the collective.

The activities of the Parallel Program not only offer a physical journey through spaces transformed by art but also invite deep reflection on the shifting identities that emerge within the urban fabric. From performances that reimagine the boundaries of civic experience to installations that revitalize spatial imaginaries, each proposal challenges us with essential questions: What does it mean to inhabit? How do we reinterpret common spaces?

The dialogue between art and the city that takes place in Art Madrid is also an invitation to rethink the cultural geography of the capital. Madrid, in its heterogeneity, is a map in constant flux, where memory and invention intertwine. In this context, art acts as a cartographer, tracing new paths of meaning that enrich the experience of those who walk through them. On every corner, on every wall that speaks through an artistic intervention, the city reinvents itself as a sensitive space, a territory where creativity becomes the common language of its citizens.

TENG Pu Chun.The red bridge beyond a glass panel. Mixed media on canvas. 2024.

It happens with cities as with dreams: everything imaginable can be dreamed, but even the most unexpected dream is a riddle that hides a desire, or its inverse, a fear. Cities, like dreams, are built of desires and fears, although the thread of their discourse is secret, their rules absurd, their perspectives misleading, and everything hides another. — I have neither desires nor fears —declared the Khan—, and my dreams are composed either by the mind or by chance. — Cities, too, believe they are the work of the mind or of chance, but neither one nor the other is enough to keep their walls standing. Of a city, you do not enjoy the seven or the seventy-seven wonders, but the answer it gives to a question of yours. (Italo Calvino. Invisible Cities)

Federico Uribe. Still life. Bullet casings. 2020.

The Parallel Program of Art Madrid'25 reaffirms its commitment to accessibility and bringing contemporary art closer to all audiences. It fosters institutional collaboration as a driver of positive change in the art scene and renews its presence as a key event during Madrid's Art Week. On this occasion, some of the activities of the Parallel Program are curated by Mario Gutiérrez Cru, a collaboration between Art Madrid, KREAE, and Proyector.

The Parallel Program of Art Madrid'25 features a variety of proposals that will take place in the days leading up to the fair and during the event itself at the Galería de Cristal in the Palacio de Cibeles:

Before the fair (February 28 / March 1 and 2)

Dialoga Ciudad (February 28):

Poetry in motion. Poetic actions that turn public space into a stage where the everyday meets the sublime. In various parts of the city, itinerant poetry will mediate the interactions that pedestrians establish in the public space. Through ephemeral interventions in strategic points around the city, participants explore the potential of poetry as a tool for emotional and social communication that disrupts the urban landscape.

Invited artists: Ajo y Peru; Helena Mariño y Enri La Forêt.

Iyán Castaño Circular currents in time. Mixed media on canvas. 2024.

Arquitecturas Imaginadas (February 28):

Metro stations are reinvented through interventions by artists who invite us to engage in a dialogue about urban movement interactions. These actions seek to redefine the traveler's experience, promoting the perception of the metro not just as functional infrastructure, but as a cultural space and site for social interaction. This approach aims to spark a deep reflection on public mobility and the value of shared spaces, emphasizing the role of art in transforming urban sensibilities, within an educational initiative aimed at raising citizen awareness about the shared use of territory.

Invited artists: Ana Matey; Domix Garrido; Araceli López y Andrés Montes.

La Quedada (March 1 - 2):

Professional visits to artist studios and creative spaces. A circuit of professional visits to artist studios and creative spaces, exploring territories of care and connections between the center and the periphery. This tour invites participants to discover the environments where projects imagining alternative futures are conceived, fostering dialogue and creative exchange. It's an opportunity to explore the creative processes of invited artists firsthand.

Invited artists: Boa Mistura; Todoporlapraxis; Mateo Maté; C.A.R.y Laura Lío.

Veljko Vuckovic. Subordination. Oil on canvas. 2022.

During the fair (March 5 - 9)

Ciudad Sutil:

Susi Vetter leads this augmented reality experience on Montalbán street, designed to intervene on Montalbán street, the main entrance to the fair, with the goal of offering a sublimated vision of the urban environment and the city's landscape. The proposal invites the public to discover an alternative layer of reality through technology.

Invited artist: Susi Vetter.

Open Booth:

In collaboration with Nebrija University, it offers a space dedicated to emerging artists to exhibit their works within the professional contemporary art circuit. This will be the second edition of the initiative with which Art Madrid renews its commitment to emerging creation, providing a white cube for an artistic intervention inspired by the key concepts of the Parallel Program of the fair. This year, the project Bajotierras/Sobrenubes. (DEL OSO, UN PELO), curated by Luis Gárciga, will be a collective exhibition that will enhance the dialogue between different emerging artists.

Raíces Afuera. Performance Program:

Five women artists address migration, uprooting, and the weight of alienation in a performance program that takes as its starting point Simone Weil's book "Rooting" (Trotta, 2014), to explore the notion of belonging and the need for rooting in a contemporary world characterized by fragmentation, displacement, and disconnection. The project is set within the fair's context as a critical and reflective space that challenges the relationship between the individual and their environment, community, and sense of identity.

Invited artists: Josefina Bardi; Eléonore Ozanne; Valentina Alvarado Matos; Ra Asensi y Agustina Palazzo.

Lecturas. Recorridos comisariados:

A cultural mediation project designed to bring the public closer to the works that will be displayed in the galleries participating in Art Madrid'25. For this occasion, Eugenia Tenenbaum and Clara González Freyre de Andrade invite us to discover new perspectives on contemporary art through carefully designed itineraries to bring us closer to the exhibition proposals of this edition.

Tiffany Alfonseca. The Trinity (Bochinche). Acrylic, pencils, rhinestones on canvas. 2024.

Espacio Tectónica:

A versatile space within the fair that will host an international video art cycle curated by Mario Gutiérrez Cru, featuring international audiovisual artists. This cycle will address key themes such as migration, territoriality, and the dynamics between centers and peripheries, reflecting on the city as a labyrinth or Tower of Babel, as well as on the role of the individual in relation to new architectural icons. Through video pieces, the artists explore how the relationships between peripheries and urban centers are interrelated in a globalized context, reflecting technological and social phenomena, such as semiconductor production in Taiwan or landscape transformation in Brazil. The pieces, combining moving images and sound, aim to generate deep reflection on the interaction between urban spaces, nature, climate disasters, and the contemporary perception of the environment.

Invited artists: lololol - Xia Lin & Sheryl Cheung; Tezi Gabundia; Ilaria Di Carlo; Magda Gebhardt; Yuchi Hsiao; Juan Carlos Bracho y Lukas Marxt.

Sección 20 Grados:

A cycle of interventions to be held in the Tectonics Space. For this occasion, ten artists will be invited whose research focuses on the dialogue between art and urban spaces. The proposals will explore how artistic practices can question the social structure of cities and the ways individuals relate to urban architecture and territories. The selected projects will materialize into ephemeral interventions and presentations reflecting on these themes.

Invited artists: Susi Vetter; Helena Goñi; Paula Lafuente; Amaya Hernández; Elena Arroyo; Olga Mesa ; Deneb Martos; Guillermo G. Peydró & Jeanne de Petricomi; Sergio Muro y Javier Olivera.

Carolina Bazo. Selva Roja Photo performance, printed on cotton paper. 2022.

In this edition, Art Madrid celebrates two decades of support and promotion of contemporary art, reaffirming its role as a catalyst for change, reflection, and artistic creation. The Parallel Program, presented as the most ambitious initiative of this edition, embodies our commitment to innovation and collaboration. With the participation of more than thirty artists, it becomes an enriching space for exchange that goes beyond the conventional boundaries of the market, expanding the frontiers of art, exploring new dynamics, and opening space for social critique and the most radical creativity.

This program would not be possible without the active collaboration of galleries, institutions, and artists who, year after year, have believed in Art Madrid's ability to make a real impact on the art scene. Through this program, we reaffirm our belief that art is a means to question, transform, and connect, beyond commercial dynamics and in tune with the social and cultural changes that define our era.

Aware of the challenge of maintaining the relevance of an event like ours, this edition presents a true reflection of our ability to adapt and be proactive in creating an inclusive, accessible space open to the new voices that are charting the course of contemporary art. Thus, Art Madrid reaffirms itself as an indisputable benchmark in the cultural scene, committed to innovation and the promotion of an artistic practice that continues to evolve relentlessly.