Art Madrid'25 – THE GALLERY BAT ALBERTO CORNEJO CELEBRATES THE 15TH ANNIVERSARY OF ART MADRID

The gallery BAT Alberto Cornejo, has been associated to Art Madrid since its beginnings. Therefore, for this fifteenth anniversary, the gallery from Madrid is paying homage to the Fair with a selection of artists who have been key in its trajectory. Some of them have been present in Art Madrid during the fifteen editions.

BAT Alberto Cornejo was one of the 18 galleries that founded Art Madrid in 2005, as a response to the evident need to make visible the work of the galleries in Spain. Since then, its directors and team have been supporting the project, presenting artistic proposals that combine the work of young artists who follow a very contemporary expressive line and pieces by artists with more consolidated careers.

Pepe Puntas

La enredadera, 2019

Mixta sobre tabla

200 x 204cm

David Lechuga

Bañista, 2004

Bronze

44 x 20cm

The artworks of David Lechuga, Diego Canogar and Pepe Puntas, artists with whom BAT Alberto Cornejo has been working for years, are characterized by keeping a timeless aesthetic that still remains in the spotlight of contemporary art. The three artists, nationally recognized and having received countless awards, have works in some important national and international art collections.

Gustavo Díaz Sosa

Caminos divergentes I, 2019

Mixta sobre lino

150 x 150cm

Diego Canogar

Tetramorfo extendido 101 N, 2014

Hierro patinado

145 x 90cm

On the other hand, the exhibition proposal of BAT Alberto Cornejo is completed by three unconditional emerging artists of the gallery: José Ramón Lozano, who returns to his beginnings with his portraits of direct faces and dark backgrounds, Gustavo Díaz Sosa with its colored architectural spaces and Cuban artist Roldán Lauzán, previously featured by the gallery Collage Habana, will make his debut with BAT Alberto Cornejo at the Fair, and whose artworks will make us reflect on the duality of being.

“We have rarely seen such strength in holding the brush as we see in the works of these three artists. With a totally visceral impulse, their paintings are framed within those images that chase you until you find yourself in front of them and fall down", the gallery owners point out.”, comment the gallerists.

José Ramón Lozano

Sin Título (II), 2018

Acrílico sobre tela

120 x 120cm

Roldán Lauzán Eiras

Season III, 2019

Óleo sobre tela

140 x 140cm

These six developed and emerging artists are joined by the German photographer Jorg Karg, who is participating for the first time in the fair with BAT Alberto Cornejo, and the Slovak photographer Mária Švarbová, who will present a very special work, "Absolute Pink Bar ". This piece, with a format of 110 x 100 cm, is the result of an advertising collaboration, and there are only 10 copies in the world. BAT Alberto Cornejo will have one of these pieces in Art Madrid. In this edition, the gallery commits to photography supported by the international projection of these two artists, as they are present in galleries all over the world and with amazing careers despite their youth.

Jorg Karg

One mile light, 2019

Printing by pigment under acrylic glass on aluminum dibond

80 x 76cm

Mária Švarbová

Snow pool, Garden, 2017

Photography

90 x 90cm

At the booth of BAT Alberto Cornejo, the figurative art staged in paintings, sculptures, drawings and photographs, will have a greater presence than abstract art (with Puntas and Canogar as acting agents), and bright colors and the female figure (either in faces or bodies) will predominate. Gustavo Díaz Sosa, Diego Canogar and Pepe Puntas present works of their artistic life project, with their particular commitment to each piece.

It is worth noting that we can highlight the co-publication of the graphic work "Pont Neuf " by the artist Jorg Karg (image of the official poster of the Fair). The work will be available exclusively at Art Madrid. On the other hand, Roldán Lauzán has made a series of unpublished pieces for Art Madrid, from the series "Hierofante" and "Anatta Vadi ". We can also find in this edition, the catalogues "Futuro Retro " by Švarbová, of very exclusive sale in Spain.

 

Diego Vallejo García

CONVERSATIONS WITH MARISOL SALANOVA. INTERVIEW PROGRAM. ART MADRID'25

Diego Vallejo García (Ávila, 1991) has a classical style in his treatment or composition, but with a contemporary theme. He studied Art History before studying Restoration and Conservation, which gives his projects a degree of knowledge that crosses from the theoretical to the practical. His work is representative of the tendency towards fragmented painting and the superimposition of realities, from the abstraction of colour fields to the painted photomontage of striking realism. This photographic exploration is taken to the realm of pictorial distortion.

The artist makes a generational portrait without individualising anyone, seeking to capture the collective personality of his generation, of the customs. He paints everything with oils, glazes and materials that he uses, thinking a lot about the conservation of the pieces and their durability.


Synergies. 2024. Oil on canvas. 114 x 195 cm.


What role does experimentation play in your creative process?

I think that experimentation in the conception of my work is fundamental, as it begins even before dealing with the actual subject matter of the painting. It begins in the configuration of the image, working on it through digital media such as Photoshop or Procreate. However, that image will only be a guide at the moment of painting; as the work progresses and accidents with the material arise, the image becomes detached from the painting, and it is the painting that finally takes control. That is why accidents occur in my painting in which elements are eliminated or appear that were not originally planned.


What are your references?

Well, I have many references. If we start with the classics, the first one I would mention is Velázquez, as well as all the paintings of the 19th century. As for the more current ones, they could be Rubén Guerrero, Ignacio Estudillo, Phil Hale, Sean Scully. They are painters who, in the end, deal with matter rather than image. I think this is the natural process of any figurative painter: at the beginning, trying to capture reality more or less faithfully, and with time you realize that what should take precedence over the image is the painting itself.


Fr Ltsch. 2024. Oil on canvas. 195 x 195 cm.


Why do your works have such an emphasis on nocturnality?

My work is not so much about nocturnality, but rather about light. What nocturnality allows me to do is to work with artificial light, and it gives me the possibility of treating light in its different temperatures and powers to create different sensations or different realities.


Do you feel more comfortable portraying individuals or crowds?

Portraying individuals or crowds pursues the same goal: to seek a portrait of my generation and society through customs and actions. How do I get this portrait without being individual, but collective? By eliminating the faces of the characters.


Nothing Is What It Seems. 2024. Oil on canvas. 146 x 195 cm.


What is the importance of movement, of action, in your works?

Movement and action are related to the previous question, because the movement of those individuals, crowds or characters in the work identifies them with a social movement and a collective identity. Also the movement that is really perceived in the work, of blurring, comes from trying to create a concept of character rather than a character in itself.





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