40 years of Arco: a memory of the fair by 40 artists, gallery owners, collectors and curators

1. Juana de Aizpuru: "Now the fair is different, but also unstoppable"

Gallerist and first director of Arco (1982-1986)

“The most unforgettable moment in the history of Arco was opening the doors of the Castellana building where the first edition was held.

It was 1982 and all the greats of the time were there: Chillida, Tàpies, Palazuelo, Gordillo… And also all the media, ready to support us.

I will never appreciate that support enough.

I also experienced the greatest embarrassment that first year: a few hours before closing, they told me that the President of the Government, Leopoldo Calvo Sotelo, and his wife were coming.

I waited on the street improvising some canapés and then we toured the fair for more than an hour.

I have high hopes for the future of Arco.

The fair is different from when we started, but it is now unstoppable”.

Minutes prior to the cutting of the inaugural ribbon of the first edition of Arco, held in 1982 in the Exhibition Pavilion of Paseo de la Castellana in Madrid.

IFEMA

2. Manuel Borja-Villel: “It is no longer a show, but a more human fair”

Director of the Reina Sofía Museum (Madrid)

“The time of Arco is also the time of this country.

It has gone from being a great show to appearing as a more humble fair, perhaps more humane.

Therefore, if I have to choose a memory, I prefer an act of generosity.

Three or four years ago, visiting Arco with the museum team, we met gallery owner Helga de Alvear when we were looking at

a painting by the Swiss Rémy Zaugg at a

Helga asked us what we thought of that work and we tried to explain all its virtues to her.

She didn't say anything, just nodded and left.

The director of the gallery where this painting was located told us the next day that she, Helga, had reserved it for the Reina Sofía Museum.

Today it is part of our collections”.

3. Patricia Phelps de Cisneros: “Madrid is already a Latin American capital”

Collector

“Arco has become a place of reference for the Ibero-American world of art.

Not only because of the fair, but because all of Madrid is encouraged to show the best of itself.

Institutions, galleries, private collections: they all make an effort, from which artists in general, and especially Spanish ones, benefit.

Madrid is already a Latin American capital, the number of Latin American artists, collectors, galleries, curators and critics who come to Madrid and feel at home has greatly increased.

More and more people come to Arco with interest and find themselves with a luxury of cultural offer, from the Prado and the Reina Sofía to the San Fernando Academy, the theaters, the opera, the culinary offer, flamenco;

places where there are always surprises”.

4. Rogelio López Cuenca: “I'm not very devoted to Arco.

Not everything fits in a fair”

Artist

“I'm not very devoted to Arco.

It seems to me that contemporary artistic practices are more multiple and diverse than what fits in the fair, but it is what we have, given that we have not been able to put together anything similar to a Documenta or the Venice Biennale.

And if you think about the failed operations in that sense, it is almost better that we stay as we are.

For the rest, how not to celebrate the occasion of meeting friends”.

5. Ignasi Aballí: “The problem is that Arco is the only international event in our country”

Artist

“Arco is a very important event for Spanish contemporary art, the most relevant in terms of economic impact and visibility of artists.

At no other time of the year does the art sector focus so much attention on the media or have so much impact.

And the problem may be that: it is the only international event in our country”.

6. Ouka Leele: "The most beautiful moment was the beginning, then it became colder"

photographer

“The most beautiful moment was the beginning.

Then it got colder and colder, there was only talk of money.

At the beginning there was a great openness and interest in the artistic.

The fair was part of the Movida's explosion of freedom and experimentation.

For us it was a meeting point, an annual appointment.

The same spirit that reigned in the city was also in Arco”.

02/15/1982.

The painter Antonio Saura and the singer Rocío Jurado at the inauguration of Arco in 1982. MANUEL FERNÁNDEZ

7. Inés López-Quesada and Silvia Ortiz: “It is a young 40-year-old fair”

Gallerists, Crossing Four (Madrid)

“Our first Arch was in 2005. The day we were going to the fair there was an ETA attack near Ifema, which made the first experience somewhat traumatic.

That year, Mexico was the guest country.

All the invited artists, curators and gallery owners were the seed of what Travesía Cuatro has been, of our relationship with Mexico and Latin America.

Now have a good time.

It has its own identity, far from standardized products like other fairs.

It is a young fair of 40 years”.

8. Jaume Plensa: “In my first Arco, Chillida came to congratulate me”

Artist

“Arco was a success from the start.

It's been so many years that I'm not sure, but I think I was at the first Arco in 1982 with a small gallery in Vic called La Tralla.

It was unforgettable: I was very young and Chillida came to congratulate me on the work exhibited at the

Afterwards we always kept a great friendship.

Perhaps because it is the reference fair in my country, I have always given it a lot of value.

I consider it an extraordinary meeting and exchange place”.

9. Nuria Enguita: “It is a place where you can strengthen your gaze”

Director of IVAM (Valencia)

“Arco constitutes a unique phenomenon in the art ecosystem in our country.

In its beginnings, when the structures of contemporary art had not yet been developed, it was the great meeting place.

Even now it continues to be so, and not only for the galleries, but for many of the people who are dedicated to contemporary art.

As director of an institution, it is a must to establish contacts that can lead to future projects.

It is always a source of inspiration, as well as a place to strengthen the look.

If its management and committee have independence and continue to be attentive to systemic changes, it seems to me that it is not in any danger of disappearing for now”.

10. José Lebrero: “It is a unique cultural and personal experience”

Director of the Picasso Museum Malaga

“When Arco started, I was studying in Germany.

My annual trip to visit Arco was a way to find out what was happening in Spain, beyond the evolution of art.

In Arco I was amazed to discover the latest from Cindy Sherman and I was shocked to meet a young gallery owner named Helga de Alvear, a person of immense economic power and passion whom I was able to meet years later at Art Basel.

The trip to Arco is still just as important today: going to Madrid during the days of Arco is a unique artistic, cultural and personal experience”.

11. Carlos Urroz: “It has had the role that museums play in other places”

Director of TBA21 and former director of Arco (2010-2019)

“Arco started as a party to which everyone wanted to be invited.

Later it was a university, with those congresses attended by curators from all over Europe and Latin America.

And finally it became a market: people began to go to Arco to shop and not just to have a drink.

The fair has played the role that museums have played in other countries: it created a space for contemporary art a decade before the Reina Sofía opened.

The fair is not in danger of disappearing: it is well established thanks to the support of Spanish galleries and depends on a public body, which is sometimes criticized, but it is something that ensures its survival.

A memory?

The dinner at the French Embassy where the creation of the Palais de Tokyo in Paris was forged, which is now 20 years old.”

12. Ana Laura Aláez: “When Arco ends, Spain is still fragile for art”

Artist

“Arco is a fair of affections, because you meet artists you know personally or through their work.

The difference with Art Basel or Frieze is that when Arco ends it becomes clear that Spain continues to drag a fragility in every way.

In other words, there is no real structure that takes care of art, that goes ahead to solve problems.

The countries of these other fairs, on the other hand, have worked to put together a political and economic fabric that works to protect culture and defends its artists to the death.”

13. Luis Valverde and José Martínez: “It is a very difficult cork to sink”

Gallerists, Minimum Space (Madrid)

“Our first Arch was in 1994, the last one held at the Casa de Campo.

We had been in business for years, but we were still two small gallery owners from Murcia who suddenly found themselves next to Leo Castelli taking works by Bruce Nauman out of a box.

In Arco we have seen Soledad Lorenzo vacuuming her

or Juana de Aizpuru taking off her hair rollers.

The fair has been surviving for 40 years and it is a very difficult cork to sink.

We have no doubt that it will work out."

14. Thaddaeus Ropac: “It has never been an ivory tower for the intellectual elite”

Gallerist

“For me, it has not only been a gateway to Spain.

Thanks to Arco, I understand Latin America much better.

The fair is said to compete with Art Basel Miami.

We may sell more there, but Arco is more serious.

I started going 25 years ago, when there were fewer international galleries, and I liked that it was an event open to the city, attended by the King and Queen, but also by ordinary citizens.

It was the first fair that had a wide public and not only specialized.

Arco has never been an ivory tower for the intellectual elite.

I remember an evening with Gilbert & George.

Being British, they expected to have dinner at 7pm.

The appointment was at ten o'clock at night, but everyone was late and we didn't start until midnight, while they were begging for a basket of bread from the waiter because they were starving.

Then,

Elena Ochoa took them to a flamenco tablao until the wee hours of the morning.

They still remember that night with a mixture of horror and fascination."

15. Alicia Framis: “It is a fair that encourages camaraderie, friendly and inclusive”

Artist

“Going to Arco is like coming home.

It is a place where you meet familiar faces in the corridors.

There, we artists share our anxieties and achievements.

It is a fair that encourages fellowship between creators and gallery owners, a friendly and inclusive fair, compared to other similar events”.

'Dress to protect yourself from the absurd', by Alicia Framis, at Arco 2019. CARLOS ROSILLO

16. Catherine David: “She was the locomotive that pulled art in Spain”

Curator and deputy director of the Center Pompidou (Paris)

“Arco was the locomotive that pulled contemporary art in Spain, where it was somewhat dormant.

The fair played a very active role in creating a discourse on art and its history that preceded that later developed by the museums.

It is one of the first fairs that understood that it also had to address problems outside the market.

There is talk of competition with Art Basel Miami Beach, but the latter is a more superficial fair.

I wish Arco a long life and I hope that she is not penalized too much by the current context”.

17. Bernardí Roig: “It is a place for vanity, knowledge and desire”

Artist

“It seems obvious, but Arco is an art fair: a place of transactions where money is exchanged for pleasure.

It is also a place for vanity, knowledge, desire, setbacks, and dissatisfaction.

I've been here since 1990 and the big event, in these 30 years, has always been the same: the sale, or not, of the works that I presented in it.

What happened in those five days determined the possibility of continuing to finance my ideas”.

18. Lucía Casani: “I feel that we have grown and matured at the same time”

Director of La Casa Encendida (Madrid)

“Arco is a fundamental part of my ecosystem, I feel that we have grown and matured at the same time.

For me it has been a place, first, of learning and training and, later, the meeting point with professionals in the sector where I can discover new artists.

I like to start the visit with the Opening section with its selection of emerging galleries where you always find very stimulating proposals.

At the fair I have discovered artists such as Ad Minoliti, who is now exhibiting at La Casa Encendida;

Marina González Guerreiro and Eva Kot'átková, who are scheduled this year, or Donna Huanca and Gabriel Chaile, with whom we would like to work in the future”.

19. Heinrich Ehrhardt: “Juana de Aizpuru sold the fair barefoot to the Germans”

Gallerist

“One of the best anecdotes related to the fair, in which we have been present since the first year, occurred with Juana de Aizpuru, during one of our tours of Europe to convince galleries to participate in Arco.

It was at the Art Cologne fair.

There were so many

to visit that, at some point, Juana couldn't stand her

anymore and took off her shoes.

She continued the second half of the visits barefoot, with absolute naturalness, without losing her well-known elegance and, above all, without losing an iota of her overwhelming power of persuasion.

She earned the respect of the entire fair.”

20. Cuauhtémoc Medina: “It constitutes a rare moment in which Spanish is a

lingua franca”

Chief Curator of the MUAC (Mexico)

“Arco is the airport where the year begins, and it allows you to feel part of a cosmopolis at a rare moment when Spanish is the

.

The creation of Art Basel Miami in 2002 destabilized the centrality of Arco and there were fears about its decline.

The efforts of the management, sometimes in friction even with the fairgrounds, to restore the brand on a global level and with a complex program have paid off.

At the moment, it is solid enough in Spain not to be at risk, although the pandemic crisis has left us all, individuals, countries and institutions, facing challenges that we were unaware of.”

The Mayor of Madrid, José María Alvarez del Manzano (left), and the Minister of Culture, Jordi Solé Tura, at the inauguration of Arco in 1992. ULY MARTIN

21. Belén Herrera Ottino: “I was trapped in a sculpture by Henry Moore”

Gallerist, Marlborough (Madrid)

“In 2003 I arrived at the Marlborough

, which was packed with people, trying to get around the visitors and get perspective to see a Bacon painting.

I fell and got stuck inside a fabulous sculpture by Henry Moore.

I felt equal parts embarrassment and concern about not damaging the work.

Suddenly, a gentleman held out his hand to me and pulled me out of the mess with great dignity.

I couldn't find words to thank him for the gesture and when I looked into his eyes I discovered that it was Norman Foster.

A few months later he was going to work at Marlborough.”

22. Rafael Canogar: “In Arco they called me a whore”

Artist

“At 86 years old, and with 70 worked, I can say that I have witnessed all the editions.

I was at the first one on Paseo de la Castellana and I plan to attend the one that starts now.

To the first I took Henri Cartier-Bresson, a great friend of mine.

I have learned from this fair that supports and trends may change, but painting always survives.

I remember an anecdote from the early years: the painter Lucio Muñoz and I were at the Juana Mordó

, next to our works, when the historian and critic Julián Gállego passed by and yelled at us that we looked like whores.

We were embarrassed to death.

We never approached our work again”.

23. Pedro Carreras and Ignacio Mugica: "The first year we exhibited next to the electricians' premises"

Gallerists, CarrerasMugica (Bilbao)

“Our first request to exhibit at Arco was in 1996. The fair was in high demand and access was not easy.

In a first selection they did not accept us, but we were so insistent with Rosina Gómez-Baeza that two days before the inauguration she gave us the option of exhibiting in a corner of the electricians' premises.

We set up the

the night before.

For us it was a success.

That is 26 years ago, we have not missed on any occasion.

Now, in the center aisle."

24. Imma Prieto: “It opened us up to contemporary art after the Franco regime”

Director of Es Baluard (Palma)

“It has been the place from which Spain has opened up to contemporary art.

We came from a dark time, from Francoism.

With the efforts of the mothers of the Spanish gallery (Juana de Aizpuru, Pilar Carbonell, Helga de Alvear, Elvira González or Soledad Lorenzo), Arco has established itself as a platform not only for business, but also for meetings, work and debate”.

25. Patrizia Sandretto Re Rebaudengo: "She has been able to give space to young people"

Collector

“I have always appreciated its identity as a fair for research and experimentation, which knows how to give space to young people.

Among my best memories is the exhibition of my collection on the Canal de Isabel II in 2000, the year in which Italy was the guest country, and the joy I felt when my collection received the A Prize for international collecting granted by the Fundación Arco ”.

26. Rocío Santa Cruz: “She has set her sights on peripheral galleries”

Gallerist

“We must support this fair because it is ours.

I watch with fear the advance of turbo-capitalism applied to the world of art.

I am referring to Art Basel, which has just gobbled up a fair as prestigious as the FIAC in Paris.

Galleries that are investment groups come to Madrid, but there are also us, the medium and small gallery owners who defend our artists.

Arco has set its sights on peripheral Spanish galleries and it is a success that we all have to support so that the sharks do not eat us”.

Liliana Porter poses next to her work at the EL PAÍS stand at Arco 2019. Julián Rojas

27. Liliana Porter: "She has been a pioneer in the creation of cultural events"

Artist

“The fairs have the virtue of bringing together in a concentrated way artistic expressions from different geographies and, consequently, from different aesthetics.

On the other hand, as it is a commercial event, it always has the limitations of a program that is defined by the needs of the market.

The positive thing about Arco has been to be clear about this limitation and to consider overcoming it with a series of cultural events, exchanges, discussions and meetings of a very good level, in which it has been a pioneer”.

28. Soledad Sevilla: "It was an important event in a country in black and white"

Artist

“I remember the news that Juana de Aizpuru was going to create a fair in Spain.

I was working in Boston at the time.

Arco was a very important event in that Spain still in black and white at the beginning of the eighties.

Arco is a great showcase and an economic opportunity.

Therein also lies a negative part, because all artists and gallery owners aspire to be represented, and that implies frustration for those who are left out”.

29. Jaime Sordo: "He created a quality collection that flees from the stars"

Collector

“Its internationalization put our galleries and our artists on the world market and in Spain it made street collecting exist, the kind that moves in quality and flees from the stars.

I only regret one thing at the fair: for having been a coward and not having bought an extraordinary work by Juan Muñoz in 2004″.

30. Helga de Alvear: "In the first Arc they asked for references about my solvency"

Gallerist and collector

“En el primer Arco me interesé por un cuadro de Hans Hartung en el espacio de una galería barcelonesa y fueron a pedir referencias sobre mi solvencia económica a Juana de Aizpuru. Cuatro décadas después, todo el mundo sabe que soy más coleccionista que galerista, como me han llegado a reprochar en Basilea. Arco ha sido importantísimo gracias a la voluntad y personalidad de Juana de Aiz­puru. Ella supo poner en su sitio a burócratas y censores, y dar paso a lo más importante: el arte”.

31. Rosina Gómez-Baeza: “El mundo se percató de nuestra existencia”

Exdirectora de Arco (1986-2006)

“España se interesó por el arte más contemporáneo a través de Arco. Miramos al mundo, y el mundo se percató de nuestra existencia. En determinados años el certamen atrajo a más galerías estadounidenses que Art Basel, Art Cologne o la Fiac, las ferias de ese momento, más centradas en Europa y en el puro comercio. Arco aunó esfuerzos, armonizó e ilusionó mediante la creación de numerosos programas de apoyo, muchos de ellos aún vigentes”.

Arco 1985. A la derecha, Javier Solana, ministro de Cultura, y Joaquín Leguina, presidente de la Comunidad de Madrid.IFEMA

32. Emilio Tuñón: “Veías en los stands a Almodóvar, Alaska o Radio Futura”

Arquitecto

“Creo haber ido a Arco todos los años desde que se inauguró. Para los veinteañeros de entonces, recién licenciados y con ganas de conocer, Arco era un revulsivo donde mirar y ver. Lo que veíamos era un adelanto de las tendencias del arte: la instalación, la transvanguardia, la fotografía… Supongo que este año será el de los NFT. Los mejores recuerdos de los comienzos era coincidir por los stands con Pedro Almodóvar, Alaska, Radio Futura o Sigfrido Martín Begué. Una maravilla…”.

33. Carmen Calvo: “Es el lugar donde dar a conocer nuestra obra, no solo venderla”

Artista

“No soy artista de pasillos y corredores. Lo mío es el estudio. Tengo 72 años y empecé con 19. Desde entonces, mi obra se ha expuesto siempre en la feria con diferentes galerías. Arco fue y sigue siendo una oportunidad para dar a conocer la obra de los artistas. Vienen coleccionistas de todas partes y eso hace posible que tengamos exposiciones en el extranjero, además de vender”.

34. José María Lafuente: “No es una bienal o una fiesta, sino puro mercado”

Coleccionista

“He comprado en Arco, pero no demasiado, cerca del 5% de mi colección. Ha sido más bien un complemento, o un lugar donde establecer contactos con galerías y artistas que luego han fructificado. Pensamos que Arco es una bienal o una fiesta cuando es puro mercado, aunque no siempre lo veamos por su aspecto social. Es una feria muy consolidada, pero corre el peligro de quedar relegada ante Londres, donde se celebra Frieze, o París, en la que acaba de invertir Art Basel”.

35. Àlex Nogueras: “En Arco conocí a mi mujer”

Galerista, NoguerasBlanchard (Barcelona)

“El mejor recuerdo que tengo de Arco es, en la edición de 2004, haber conocido a Teresa, mi mujer. Con los años hemos formado una familia y siento que los astros me fueron descaradamente favorables en esa ocasión. ¿Quién dijo que las ferias no pueden ser románticas? Este año volveremos a los pasillos de Arco juntos, con nuestro hijo de seis años y con el recuerdo de aquel momento en que la vi por primera vez, medio distraída, sentada en una silla. Esta podría ser la singularidad de Arco: nos hace sentir a gusto, como en casa”.

36. Elena del Rivero: “El primer sueño de Arco se volvió una pesadilla ferial”

Artista

“Se dice que Arco nos hizo modernos después de la dictadura y tengo pensamientos encontrados. Recuerdo la ilusión y el aprendizaje del primer Arco, las maravillosas plumas articuladas de Re­becca Horn, mi primer contacto con su trabajo. Ese primer sueño parece ahora una pesadilla ferial, igual de plomiza que muchas bienales. No suelo ir a ferias, pero Arco quizá sea necesaria para la situación española, desmembrada y poco proclive a crear lazos de unión. Les deseo mucho éxito, pues necesitamos la curiosidad y valentía del amante del arte, del coleccionista, del mecenas”.

Visitantes de Arco en 1987

37. Pedro G. Romero: “Es el gran hito anual porque en España no hay bienales”

Artista, comisario y crítico

“Al principio íbamos a Arco como a la excursión de la Facultad. En 1984 participé en una performance de Espacio P. vestido de obrero, pintando una pared. Ahora voy poco. Un galerista me dijo que mejor no fuera porque hacer chistes en el bar no favorecía mi carrera. Lo curioso es que se ha convertido en el hito anual porque no hay bienales de peso. También para el sistema político-publicitario: las instituciones, que podrían ir a los estudios de los artistas, compran en Arco, el momento de mayor especulación”.

38. Hans Ulrich Obrist: “Ha sido fundamental en mi formación de comisario”

Director artístico de las Serpentine Galleries (Londres)

“¿Mi mejor recuerdo en Arco? Pasar dos horas hablando con Palazuelo. Arco ha sido fundamental en mi formación como comisario. Fue una de las primeras ferias que empezó a invitarnos a participar en mesas redondas, que entendió que lo que quedaba fuera del mercado era importante. Empezábamos a hablar en Arco y continuábamos de noche, en los bares y restaurantes de Madrid. Se fraguó un trabajo de colaboración entre nosotros, una especie de constelación que no era tan frecuente entonces, cuando los profesionales del arte trabajaban de forma más individualista. Arco convirtió el sector español en menos autosuficiente y más internacional”.

39. Elvira González: “Las galerías nos la hemos jugado para que funcionara”

Galerista

“Lo mejor de Arco ha sido el entusiasmo de los galeristas desde el primer momento. Han conseguido que aquello que empezó como un acontecimiento social sea una cita profesional muy seria. Galerías grandes y pequeñas nos la hemos jugado para que esto funcionara pese a las discrepancias que pudiera haber en algún momento. Hemos sido capaces de llevar a nuestros coleccionistas a galerías extranjeras para dar relumbrón a la feria”.

40. June Crespo: “Voy a la feria con la ilusión de una vuelta a la normalidad”

Artista

“A fair is not an optimal place to show your work, but many exhibitions come from there.

The invitation to the 2022 Venice Biennale comes after they had seen my work at fairs like Frieze, Fiac and maybe Arco.

This year I will stay longer than usual.

After the last two years, I go to the fair with the illusion of a return to normality”.

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