It’s Madrid Art Week, one of the biggest cultural events of the year!
It’s Madrid Art Week, one of the biggest cultural events of the year. And I’ve come to break down some of the major art fairs happening this weekend for you.
Here are six incredible art shows in Madrid that you should definitely check out:
1. ARCO Madrid
image from ifema.es
First up is the big one, ARCO Madrid. ARCO is open to the public on Friday 1st to Sunday March 3rd at IFEMA from 12–20:00. I have never been to ARCO but it’s the biggest art fair hosted by the city with work exhibited from over 200 galleries from 30 countries. You can see a wide range of art, including video art, installations, drawing, photography, giant sculptures of the Spanish King and more.
The invited country this year is Peru. General entry is €40 euros on Friday and Saturday, but €30 on Sunday. However, if you’re a student, you can get in for €20 any day.
2. Art Madrid
image from Art Madrid on Facebook
Another major art fair is Art Madrid which is taking place this year at the Crystal Gallery in Cibeles. This fair is open to the public from Wednesday February 27th to Sunday March 3rd. This year the focus of the fair is on video art so if this is something that you’ve wanted to get into for awhile, now is the perfect time!
General entrance is €15 but there is a reduced price of €12 for students, pensioners and unemployed people.
3. JUST MAD
image from Just Mad on Facebook
My personal favourite art fair is JUST MAD which has moved to the Palacio de Neptuno this year. I’ve been to JUST MAD two years in a row and I always really enjoy the selection of art on offer. It often has a wonderful group of paintings and photography. While it’s not as big as ARCO, it’s still fairly sizeable and I would recommend dedicating at least 2 or 3 hours to be able to see everything.
In an attempt to strengthen ties with their closest neighbour, Portugal is being featured at the fair this year. Just Mad is open to the public from Wednesday 26th to Sunday 3rd. General entry is €15 but it goes down to just €7 for students, pensioners and the unemployed, making it the most affordable one if you’re on a student visa.
4. Drawing Room
Image from Drawing Room on Facebook
Another art fair that I usually try to attend is Drawing Room, which, as its name suggests, primarily highlights works of illustration. I’m always impressed by the selection of pieces I have seen there and it’s one of the smaller events so if you don’t think you could spend a whole day or several hours at an art fair, Drawing Room would probably be more to your liking.
This year Drawing Room takes place at the Palacio de Santa Barbara and it’s open to the public from this Thursday to Sunday. Tickets cost €10 but are half price for anyone under 18 or over 65.
5. Urvanity Art Fair
art installation on Calle Fuencarral by German artist 1010
You may have seen some of the urban art installations that are taking the centre by storm right now like the cat in Callao or the colorful forms on Calle Fuencarral. Well, those installations are part of the Urvanity Art Fair. If you want really contemporary, cutting-edge work, this is the fair for you. It’s celebrating just its third edition this year and showcases post graffiti, new pop art and surrealist pop. If you have no idea what any of those words mean, no worries. Go to the fair and find out!
Urvanity takes place at COAM this year and it is open to the public from Friday to Sunday. Tickets cost just €10.
6. Hybrid Art Fair
Image from Hybrid Art Fair on Facebook
Finally, I’m going to wrap this up with HYBRID Art Fair which also takes place from Friday to Sunday. If you like your art provocative and genre-bending, then this is the fair for you. To make it even cooler and more intimate, it actually takes place inside a hotel, the Hotel Petit Palace Santa Barbara. If you’re going to Hybrid, I highly suggest buying your tickets online in advance as it’s a bit cheaper and if you want to go to more than one of these fairs, every bit counts!
So if you’ve got a puente this weekend and you’re not traveling, don’t feel bad! There’s so much for you to do in the city thanks to Madrid Art Week! You’ll need Monday off to recover. Enjoy!