ARCOS 26th EDITION FEATURES NEW PROJECTS, WITH SOUTH KOREA AS ITS SPECIAL GUEST
Madrid, 15-19 February, 2007
The International Contemporary Art Fair, ARCO, will hold its twenty-sixth edition in Madrid from 15 19 February 2007, featuring a major selection of galleries and a fascinating exhibition programme. ARCO07 will show the events special commitment to quality, featuring leading names on the international gallery scene, specialising in everything from the historic avant-garde movements to Modern and Contemporary Masters. Moreover, the presence of emerging artists will make up a new, unique section, called Projects. Lastly, a major contingent representing Asian art takes centre stage, with this years special guest, South Korea, showing new dimensions in art through an attractive selection of high-profile artists from this country.
A Look at Asian Art
With the participation of South Korea as this years special guest country, ARCO will, for the first time in its history, put the spotlight on the continent of Asia, featuring one of its emerging international art centres, with an exciting local scene. A pavilion designed by Jung-Hwa Kim, Director of Museums Korea in Seoul, and curated by Jeong Ah Shin, Chief Curator of Sungkok Art Museum and a professor at Dongguk University, will show a group of 15 South Korean artists, all represented by leading galleries from that country. These high-profile artists will present work created both in traditional media and incorporating the latest technology, and which even question traditional art. South Koreas programme at ARCO will encompass painting, installations, video, electronic art, and a wide variety of themes and artistic intentions, ranging from aesthetic exploration to socially conscious themes. As is the case every year, this section will have its own parallel programme of exhibitions and cultural events around the Spanish capital which will round off the organisers vision of South Korean art and culture. These will be part of the South Korea Now cultural programme, to include events in other parts of Spain over the course of 2007.
The Art Fair
ARCO07 will feature 255 art galleries85 Spanish, and 170 internationalfrom some 30 countries. The fairs continual renovation is highlighted by the fact that many of these galleries, 54 in all, are first-time exhibitors at ARCO.
A Major New Emerging Art Section
ARCO07 will feature a new space, PROJECTS, which will consolidate and continue the philosophy of ARCOs established curated invitationals, aimed at presenting site-specific proposals selected by independent curators, with the aim of supporting the production of alternative work on the contemporary art scene. The selection of proposals which participate in PROJECTS was made by a team of independent curators and the ARCO Organising Committee.
Thirty of these proposals have been selected by Carol Lu , Chus Martínez, David Liss, Paola Santoscoy, Virginia Pérez Ratton, Fernando Cocchiarale, Moacir dos Anjos and Ricardo Resende, all hailing from different parts of Europe and America. Standouts here are the Brazilian galleries11 in allwhich three of the curators have focused on exclusively, and which will serve as a preview of Brazils stint as special guest in 2008. This group will be complemented by another 32 proposals selected by the ARCO Organising Committee, encompassing such media as painting and photography, along with an outstanding display of video, installations, and electronic art in more groundbreaking formats.
The Black Box
New technologies, audiovisuals, and electronic art will have their own showcase in THE BLACK BOX, now a veteran section which continues, year after year, to show the flag for electronic projects and experimental art, with the aim of firming up its niche within the market. The curators Carolina Grau and Marc-Olivier Wahle selected nine European galleries to participate in this years space. In 2007, the section will focus more strongly on professionalism, and will once again serve as the venue for the BEEP Awards, whilst giving a higher profile to the institutional facet of video collecting.
COLLECTORS PROGRAMME
The 26th edition of ARCO will also include the presence of prestigious contemporary art magazines from around the world. Moreover, public institutions and corporations will continue to play their part as major exhibitors and collectors at ARCO07. The art fair will also take its first steps to reinforce its role as a sales showcase and as a point of encounter for the international contemporary art market, devoting special attention to private as well as institutional and corporate collectors. Approximately 200 collectors from around the world will arrive in Madrid as part of a revamped edition of the Guest Collectors programme. Exclusive pre-inaugural showings on Wednesday the 14th and Thursday the 15th of February aim to provide them with an ideal setting for seeing all of the work on display and making their acquisitions in a more elite, and totally professional, atmosphere. Corporate collecting will take on a new dimension this year; an example is the sponsorship of the automotive firm Hyundai, with the Berge Group, which be running the ARCO VIP Lounge. The group has a major contemporary art collection which will be on show thereand Hyundai is a South Korean brand, further raising the special guest countrys profile at ARCO07.
