ARCO Madrid 2010, the International Contemporary Art Fair, Opens Its Doors

The work of art 'The Beach', by Fernando Botero, valued at 946.000 euros, is one of the most expensive at ARCOmadrid, the International Contemporary Art Fair. EFE/ZIPI.

MADRID.- ARCOmadrid, the International Contemporary Art Fair of Madrid, will once again be a must-visit event for anyone seriously interested in finding the best and latest from the art market today. In Halls 6, 8 and 10 at the IFEMA exhibition centre, visitors will find a huge variety of masterpieces by some of the most highly priced artists from the 20th and 21st century, alongside pieces by emerging practitioners, accessible for those wishing to begin collecting of contemporary art. The extensive range of works covers all types of trends and media, from classic to cutting-edge.

The variety of works on view at ARCOmadrid_ 2010 will undoubtedly meet the expectations of big and small investors alike, and very particularly the public and private institutions, investment funds and corporations that are planning to renew their commitment with art and culture at this year’s fair. Art lovers will be able to choose from among a wide gamut of works that includes all types of art trends: from the 20th century avant-gardes, to the most emerging and cutting-edge expression of the moment, in conventional supports and in new media, by around 3,000 both mature and emerging artists. The 218 exhibiting galleries have brought their best works, with something for all kinds of collectors, from the newly arrived to the most knowledgeable and ambitious collectors.

Masterpieces at ARCOmadrid_ 2010
The GENERAL PROGRAMME is the perfect place to find masterpieces of contemporary and avant-garde art. Pieces by some seminal names who command the highest prices in the market. One of the priciest pieces on sale at ARCOmadrid_ 2010 is "The Beach", by the Colombian painter, sculptor and drawing artist Fernando Botero, on sale at the booth of MARLBOROUGH gallery for €946,000. A superb oil on canvas by the highest-priced living Latin American artist.

Another expensive piece is on view at ORIOL GALERIA D’ART, a gallery specialising in 20th century masters and avant-garde artists. At ARCOmadrid_ 2010 it has an oil painting by the master of Constructivism Joaquín Torres-García. “Composición”, a work this Uruguayan artist of Catalan descent painted in Madrid in 1933, is on sale at the fair for €700,000, a good indication of the international recognition of Latin American art, sure to clock up plenty of sales at this year’s ARCOmadrid.

In turn, the London gallery EDWARD TYLER NAHEM FINE ART can boast some of the most famous names in 20th century art. For instance, the German painter Gerhard Richter, one of whose works in ARCOmadrid is available for a cool €750,000, one of the highest prices this year. Other top-rated work is an oil on aluminium titled “Paris Robe”, by the Irish artist Sean Scully, painted in 2008, which may be bought for €650,000 at LELONG.

Another French gallery, THADDAEUS ROPAC, is showing some of the most expensive pieces at the fair, like “Flying No.1”, an oil on canvas from 2009 by Ilya Kabakov, available for anyone with €440,000 to spare, or one of the most recent works by the German artist Georg Baselitz, “Magentahände”, 2009, with a price tag of €400,000.

Emerging Asian artists coming from new burgeoning cultural centres like India or China, account for some of the highest priced works at the fair,. A good example is the Korean ARARIO GALLERY, at whose space in the GENERAL PROGRAMME collectors will find the oil painting “Sweatopia”, by the Indian Jitish Kallat, valued at $300,000 (nearly €220,000), or the Chinese gallery BEIJING SPACE, exhibiting in ARCO 40 a piece titled “Chinese Portrait” going at $160,000 (€118,000), by Feng Zhengjie.

Investing in Spanish Art
As far as Spanish art is concerned, one of the top pieces is “Escrits y Bandes Negres” by Antoni Tapiès, a mixed media on wood on sale at SOLEDAD LORENZO for just €320,000. Works by this Catalan master –and one of Spain’s best rated artist– may also be seen in other galleries, like TONI TÀPIES, CAYÓN and GUILLERMO DE OSMA, from Spain, or at the French gallery LELONG.

Cristina Iglesias is another of the Spanish living artists commanding high prices at ARCOmadrid_ 2010. From among her various pieces on show it is worth highlighting an untitled sculpture from 2008, made with polyester resin and bronze dust, exhibited at the Madrid gallery ELBA BENITEZ with a price tag of €300,000.

In the medium price range, art collectors and lovers will find works by Spanish artists working in a large variety of media and formats, like the mixed media on paper “Face V” by Jaume Plensa, on sale at ESTIARTE for €50,000; an untitled oil on canvas by Equipo 57, with a price of €72,000 at RAFAEL ORTIZ, or “Diafragma Dodecafonico…”, an electronic animation by José M. Cruz Novillo valued in €132,000, on display at the booth of EVELYN BOTELLA.

Those wishing to pick up something by young emerging Spanish artists will find affordable pieces, like “Gran Vía”, a heliogravure by the Basque artist Unai San Martín, on sale for €500 at LA CAJA NEGRA, or “Idea brillante” by Amaya González Reyes, a young artist from Galicia, which can be snapped up at PARRA & ROMERO for €2,000.

Art for All Pockets
But those with lower budgets to invest in art or wanting to start a collection will find at the fair –especially true this year– works at very reasonable prices, starting from the more-than affordable €300 for the piece Nuevos Creadores by the Peruvian artist Sandra Gamarra, on display at the Catalan gallery POLÍGRAFA OBRA GRÁFICA.

The GENERAL PROGRAMME also has interesting options for very affordable investment, like “Bords”, a lithograph by Günter Forg, on sale at LELONG for a mere €500. Also for €500 is a piece by Gerold Tagwerker at the booth of the Austrian gallery GRITA INSAM.

Photography is usually a more affordable option, with pieces ranging from €400 for the pieces by the Andalusian artist Jacobo Castellano at BENVISTE CONTEMPORARY in the GENERAL PROGRAMME, or €1,400 for the photograph by Patricia Gómez & María Jesús González on show at RAIÑA LUPA in ARCO40, the subsection set aside for young emerging art.

In this same section, visitors can find other very reasonable options, like “Burn More Fuel” by Hadrien Dussoix at PROJECTRAUM on sale for €800, or a work by Sissi Farassat on display at the KASHYA HILDEBRAND gallery, where it can be picked up for just €750.

Opting for Emerging Art
The price range of the works on show in the curated programmes and in those focussing on emerging artists goes from €750 all the way up to €170,000: from the most affordable pieces by young art practitioners taking their first tentative steps in the art world, to more consolidated artists from emerging markets, ARCO40, SOLO PROJECTS, EXPANDED BOX and CINEMALoop provide an excellent opportunity to discover cutting-edge art and to start collecting with challenging work.

For instance, in André Romão’s one-man-show at BAGINSKI, we can find sculptures expressly made for ARCOmadrid, between €2,000 and €3,000. Also at the SOLO PROJECTS section, are photographs by the Tel Aviv-based Argentinean-born Miki Kratsman, represented by CHELOUCHE GALLERY, with prices starting at €2,000.

From Los Angeles, ARCOmadrid’s guest city, is a 17-strong contingent of galleries offering truly interesting options for investment. This is the case of L.A. LOUVER, a gallery with long-standing experience to its credit, presenting a composition by Ed & Nancy Kienholz titled “Still Dead, 1987”, valued at 250,000 euro, together with recent pieces by the US artist Don Suggs starting at $3,000 euro.

Another LA gallery, PERES PROJECTS has a gamut of works at its booth ranging from affordable posters for €5 to Indian ink drawings by the Berlin-based John Kleckner valued at €2,500 or works in various formats by Dean Sameshima starting at €5,000.

These are just a few examples of the huge variety of works on show at ARCOmadrid_ 2010, made in all types of media and styles, and going for a big span of prices. Works of interest for major collectors in the fair’s Guest Collectors programme, as well as for the institutions or for the thousands of art lovers in general who dabble in collecting at a more modest scale, yet with an equally passion for contemporary art.