Ephemeral Architecture, by Simón Arrebola (Herrero de Tejada Gallery)
This week a new edition of the **MARTE** fair is held in Castellón, especially aimed at new collectors. For many, buy contemporary art it is still something Martian: for precisely here they can change their minds.
"For us it has to be the wildest, most powerful year." who speaks like this is Enrique Bocangelus, that next to Joan Felius co-directs the contemporary art fair MARTE. MARTE celebrates its fifth edition from November 15 to 18 at the Castellón Auditorium and Conference Center, and expectations are high.
It is curious that, in a country where contemporary art collecting is so discreet, the fair model has proliferated which has ARCOmadrid as its main antecedent and mirror ** (with thirty-seven editions behind it, the Madrid fair is one of the oldest and most visited in the world).
This requires providing clear signs of identity to each new event of these characteristics, and MARTE stands out because galleries participate by invitation as selected by a team of curators, and because each of them appears with one artist.
“We have had several models, but in the end we decided to be a little different, to be ambitious and at the same time realistic”, explains Bocángelus. “Attracting a gallery with a single project is easier, and thus the volume of sales is better distributed among all. And it makes it easier for gallery owners not to be disappointed as happens with other fairs”.
Javier Aldarias (Silves Contemporary Art)
An overview of the program tells us that the work of more or less young artists has prevailed, seeking to attract also incipient collectors.
“MARS Curated” is a section coordinated by Nacho Tomás Gil and curated by Avelino Sala (an artist himself) and Fernando Gómez de la Cuesta, in charge of completing a selection of nineteen artists from as many Spanish galleries, with special presence of the Mediterranean provinces.
Thus, the Mallorcan gallery Addaya takes Mariana Sarraute, the Valencian Shiras to Daniel Domingo Schweitzer, and the castellonense Híbrida Gallery to Cristina Ramírez.
Some of the galleries from other geographical coordinates are The great (with work by Laura Salguero), nape space (the abstract painter Rubén Rodrigo) or Rooftop Blacksmith (another painter, Simón Arrebola, this time figurative).
Indigo and Cadmium, by Rubén Rodrigo (Espacio Nuca)
The Asturian Flames Gem, A regular at national fairs, he presents a guest project by Jorge García. And one of the most interesting a priori elements is an exhibition dedicated to Henry Marty (Salamanca, 1969).
With a work that turns around the grotesque, absurd and dark side of existence, At the beginning of his career, Marty achieved unusual recognition –which included an individual exhibition at the Reina Sofía in his early thirties–, and has since remained a regular presence in art centers, museums and fairs both in our country as well as outside of it.
His gallery owner Pedro Gallego de Lerma, de La Gran, considers that “the combination of Marty and Salguero It can work very well." In addition, and with a more global vision, he adds: "I hope that, regardless of whether we sell more or less, the five years of the fair have permeated the citizenry and that this year we have a sensible number of visitors for a small city. Because the effort being made is great”.
Bocángelus clarifies this idea: “We realized that, since things are cooked in Madrid, we had to attract that public. In Spain, the highest quality cultural events like ours are of interest above all in two or three large cities. But I think that MARTE is something that already feels like its own in Castellón”.
Marte will host an exhibition dedicated to Enrique Marty (Salamanca, 1969)
But a good fair also needs to generate interesting content beyond the gallery stands, and for this reason the program “MARS Lab” will include a series of talks, round tables and other activities that serve to reflect on different aspects of contemporary art.
Due to the interest of the issues and the expected participants, we especially recommend the meeting Macro-collecting and micro-collecting –with, among others, the collector James Deaf, director of the Association of Private Collectors of Contemporary Art 9915– and a conference on ways to survive as an artist by the creator and university professor Simon Zabel.
One of the most original sections of the fair is “MARS Social”, What do you intend to introduce? an element of awareness of social issues through art, and that includes a video space.
In addition, it will contribute to visibility of women in art through action “Art Now”, in which the Cordoba Verónica Ruth Frías maintains her balance on a stack of books that make up the official artistic canon, and will invite other participants to carry out a similar exercise as a collective performance.
The performance of Verónica Ruth Frías
And finally, “MARS Orbital” and “MARS Orbital Expedition” they expand their activity outside the walls of the Auditorium, with exhibitions and special projects.
Thus, all of Castellón joins the initiative to turn MARTE into a kind of local art week with exhibitions like Máxima crosses abysses. Selection of the César Monzonís collection at the Vila-real Convent or In its right place. Selection from the José Luís Huerta collection at the MACVAC in the nearby town of Vilafamés.
Animal, by Mariana Sarraute (Addaya)
And, through "Possibility Award" two artists without a gallery are offered the opportunity to exhibit: in this case, the artist from Castellón has been selected Alexandra de la Torre and the Zamorano Antony War.
With all this, as Enrique Bocángelus explains, “we have created an art fair that is not only the only one in the Valencian Community, but also the main one in the Mediterranean. So If there is any place in our country right now to start collecting, that place is MARTE”.
Sleeping Woman, by Manuela Ballester (MACVAC ORBITAL)