Do you know the work and the different projects developed by VEGAP? This year, you will get to know first-hand the extensive work developed by Visual Entidad de Gestión de Artistas Plásticos (VEGAP): the organisation collaborates with the fourteenth edition of Art Madrid and will have a specific booth at the fair.

#Europeforcreators campaign.

As many of you will know, VEGAP is the organisation that has been managing intellectual property rights for visual creators in Spain for almost thirty years. Painters, sculptors, photographers, illustrators, designers, video artists, net artists and architects… all the visual creators. Currently, VEGAP represents more than 150,000 artists from 46 countries, provides cultural management services to a multitude of Spanish cultural institutions, as well as VEPGAP collaborates with the gallery sector, through the Galleries Associations, among others.

In addition to these tasks, VEGAP will present its Image Bank project: a huge catalogue of contemporary art images that offers all professionals related to the publishing, advertising, multimedia, television or audiovisual producers sectors, more than 60,000 exclusive images of the most representative artists of the contemporary creation. In a very fast and simple way, in the same and only management, the user obtains together the image, the license of use for the reproduction/distribution as well as the public communication of the work. This catalogue is exceptional because of the high technical quality of the images. Also, both the choice process and the treatment of the colour of the images has been supervised by the authors or, in any case, his inheritors.

The organisation is also in charge of the “Propuestas VEGAP” Competition, a contest conceived by artists to help artists. Born in 1997, on the initiative of the extinct Fundación Arte y Derecho, the main purpose of "Propuestas" is to stimulate visual creation by supporting the production and financing of artistic projects by visual creators. It is a unique contest of its kind, as it finances the creation and not the acquisition of works, of all branches of visual creation: plastic arts, photography, new forms of artistic expression, illustration and graphic design.

Throughout 22 editions, independent juries constituted by some of the most relevant artists of the Spanish scene, have distributed more than one million euros among around more than 300 artworks, making this contest one of the most artistic remarkable patronage projects of the cultural sector. The last year's award money was 50,000€ divided into 5 prizes, and the winners were the artists Nuria Güell, Ismael Iglesia, Diego del Pozo Barriuso, Clara Carvajal and José María Medina Manrique. The call for the 2019 edition will soon open.

Also, during the celebration of the fair you will be able to know the "Arte y Derecho" Collection, a publication edited by Trama. It was created in 2003 by Fundación Arte y Derecho and today is still managed by VEGAP. The publishing house, which has almost twenty titles, is specialized in two lines of research. On the one hand, you can find titles dedicated to legal issues, aimed at scholars and researchers of Copyright in their speciality authors of visual creation. With essays as enlightening as “Protección Jurídica de Videojuegos” (Francisco Javier Donaire y Antonio José Planells de la Maza, 2012), “Los creadores visuales ante la reforma de la Ley de Propiedad Intelectual” (Javier Moscoso del Prado, Alberto Bercovitz, Juan Antonio Xiol Ríos, Alberto Corazón y Javier Gutiérrez, 2007) or “Protección y límites del Derecho de Autor de los Creadores Visuales” (Antonio Delgado Porras, Alberto Bercovitz, Juan José Marín, Carola Streul, Javier Gutiérrez, Rafael Sánchez Aristi, Asunción Esteve Pardo, 2006),among others.

And on the other hand, there are other titles related to the essays on art that have been the subject of the different editions of the prizes of the "Escritos sobre Arte" Competition, also organized by the Fundación Arte y Derecho and which its name is given in Fundation’s memory. You can find thematic lines as suggestive as “Paracinema” (Esperanza Collado, 2012), “Iconoclasia, historia del arte y lucha de clases” (José María Durán Medraño, 2010), “Arte y Posfordismo” (Octavi Cameron, 2007) or “El montaje expositivo como traducción” (Isabel Tejeda, 2006).

Thus, the committed work of the VEGAP organisation, which has in the structure of its organizational chart great artists such as Antón Patiño, Montserrat Soto, Eva Lootz, Alfonso Albacete, Juan Genovés, Susana Solano, Chema Madoz or Esther Pizarro, among many others, will be promoted at the Art Madrid fair.

Aurelio San Pedro

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

Aurelio San Pedro (Barcelona, 1983) draws with great delicacy, focusing his attention on natural settings and favoring black and white. Memory plays a crucial role in his creative process, which is based on treating recollection as a means of artistic expression. His background in engineering and topography influences his search for inspiring images, helping him select the ideal landscapes—ones that stem from both real and imagined places.

Each of his pieces follows a slow and meticulous process, requiring deep introspection. Paper is almost a fetish for him; both the areas he chooses to intervene in and those he leaves blank hold equal importance. He navigates between abstraction and figuration while maintaining a distinctive and deeply resonant style.

Return to Oneself. From the series Books and Landscapes. 2024. Mixed media. 100 x 100 cm.

What role does experimentation play in your creative process?

Experimentation is fundamental in my creative process, both conceptually and aesthetically. My work evolves in parallel with unfolding events, gradually shaping what will become the final piece. However, in terms of production, the role of experimentation depends heavily on the series I am working on at the time.

For example, in the Books series, which is created using book fragments, three-dimensionality is essential. While working on it, I encountered trial and error, residue, simplification, and the streamlining of processes.

In contrast, when it comes to drawings, physical experimentation is much less pronounced. However, there are still discoveries, searches for tools, trials, and shifts within the working process. For instance, in Landscapes, I use a pencil with three extenders that measures about fifty to sixty centimeters. In my two latest series, Iceland and Nature, I had to learn how to move and position myself within nature, while also refining my drawing technique significantly.

Always Stumbled Upon the Same Stone.Detail. From the series Books and Landscapes. 2024. Mixed media. 10 x 19 cm.

What are your references?

I cannot pinpoint specific aesthetic influences, but I can mention those who have left a mark on my artistic journey. First and foremost, my father, due to his connection with art and architecture. I also had the privilege of learning for a year in the studio of Antoni Marqués, a renowned Catalan artist.

Historically, the works of Magritte and Joseph Kosuth have had a profound influence on me. Formally, I find a certain connection with Arte Povera, and I identify with minimalism.

Twenty Dark Episodes. 2024. From the series Books and Landscapes. Mixed media. 100 x 100 cm.

How do memory and recollection influence your drawings?

Much of my work, if not all, is rooted in memory. I began with the Diane series, a collection of pencil drawings based on old photographs by Diane Arbus. In these drawings, I removed the main subjects, leaving only the backgrounds. They were complemented by diptychs that included descriptions of the absent characters, the location where the photograph was taken, and the year. This approach created a dialogue between presence and absence, exploring themes of memory and recollection.

Later, I worked on Landscapes, a much more ethereal series in which I sought to represent an idealized and undefined image through personal memory. Currently, I am developing Nature and Iceland, projects that reflect on natural memory in relation to the landscape’s own form.

I am interested in posing questions such as: How did this rock end up here? How was this meandering river formed? A simple landscape holds countless traces and processes. For me, that is the essence of memory in my work.

ST.3. From the series Iceland. 2024. Pencil on paper. 120 x 100 cm.

How long does it take you to complete your works?

The time I dedicate to each piece depends mainly on its complexity and specific characteristics. Generally, I spend between two and four weeks on each piece, with an average of about three weeks. This varies, as some works require more time for reflection, adjustments, or details, while others emerge more fluidly. The diversity of the creative process is what makes the difference, each piece has its own demands and rhythms, making every artistic experience unique.

Return to Oneself. From the series Books and Landscapes. 2024. Mixed media. 100 x 100 cm.

Why do you choose to work in black and white?

I am deeply drawn to black and white for its timelessness. This visual approach not only eliminates distractions but also removes certain details that might diminish the work’s mystery, allowing the viewer to focus on the essential. The absence of color and the diffuse light I use contribute to a sense of distortion and vagueness, which, to me, enhances the enigmatic nature of the image.

By omitting volume and color, I create an atmosphere that invites interpretation, leaving room for the viewer to project their own narrative onto what they see. This quality of uncertainty and suggestion is what I find so powerful about working in black and white.

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