Art has always been a shelter, a place where society is allowed to imagine other worlds when yours staggers. But it is also a mirror: an area in which artists reflect the currents that cross their time. Each Arc edition, the most emblematic contemporary art fair in Spain, is an radiography of the moment.
The 45th edition is no exception. The feeling of instability that is breathed by lighting the TV or sliding the finger through the news is materialized in the halls of the fair. Among the 214 exhibitors from 36 countries, political uncertainty, the rise of populism and international conflicts become the great topic of conversation.
One of the most commented works is ‘White Washing‘From the Spanish artist Eugenio Merino. A dishwasher overflowing with white dishes in which Donald Trump’s faces, Elon Musk, Giorgia Meloni, Santiago Abascal or Viktor Orbán are stamped. All the ultra -right gathered, ready to be “cleaned”. “It is an ironic comment about the need to purify an ideological substrate that overshadows to the West,” explains Miguel Ángel Sánchez, director of the gallery that exposes the work.
Another visual impact is left by Ramón Mateos with its anodized aluminum installation. A metal curtain with an engraved number: 7,291. It is the number of deceased in residences of the Community of Madrid during the pandemic, a figure that the investigations have related to the protocols during the government of Isabel Díaz Ayuso. In another of his works, Mateos reviews the victims of economic crises from the bubble of the tulips of 1637 to 2022.
The situation in Gaza He has also found his space in this arc edition. The video installation of Alex Reynolds collects, with the help of artificial intelligence, all the press wheels of the United States Department of Defense on the War in Gaza from October 2024 until today. On the screen, journalists’ questions appear intact, but the answers have been cut, reduced to a repetitive vacuum. A clear message: the official narrative does not change, the answer does not matter.
Between criticism and reflection, in Arco, weight names such as Joan Miró, Juan Gris, Salvador Dalí, Eduardo Chillida and Jaume Plennsa, along with contemporary artists such as Bernar Venet and Heidi Bucher, also live together.
Source: Lasexta
Bruce is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment . He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the industry.
