ARCO Foundation
The ARCO Foundation, in its will to foster, disseminate and spread contemporary art and collecting, will once again actively participate in the next edition of ARCOmadrid 2017. In addition to the activities and actions it organises throughout the year, it will be responsible for initiatives and awards during the Fair, all of which are aimed at injecting dynamism into the market and driving it forward.
With these objectives and the will to promote both private and corporate collecting, the ARCO Foundation will grant the ‘A’ Awards for Collecting, set to celebrate their 21st edition next year. The winning collections of this competition, which acknowledges the activity of people and institutions whose work has proved essential to understanding the relevant cultural and heritage function of collecting in this century, will shortly be announced.
Prior to the kick-off of ARCOmadrid 2017, in continuation of last year’s initiative, on Tuesday 21st of February, the ARCO Foundation Dinner will take place at the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando, the proceeds of which will be used for the acquisition of works at the Fair for its Collection. A chance to meet for professionals and collectors that will also serve as the scene for the ‘A’ Awards for Collecting ceremony, and a unique opportunity to visit the Costantini Collection exhibition.
Along the same lines, IFEMA will also acquire works at ARCOmadrid for the Foundation, following the advice of Miguel von Hafe and Manuel Segade, which will go on to form part of its permanent collection. The institutional and corporate purchases made by the Institution on the last edition include works by Danh Vo; Adam Pendleton; Babi Badalov; Francisco Tropa and Massimo Bartolini.
ARCOmadrid 2017 will place a rest and meeting area promoted by the ARCO Foundation at the disposal of the Friends of ARCO and the VIP guests. On this occasion, the space will be dedicated to the artist Francisco Tropa, represented at the Fair by Quadrado Azul and Jocelyn Wolff, and will be decorated by the contemporary design gallery Machado-Muñoz.
In addition, the ARCO Foundation will also organise various activities for collectors and Friends of ARCO at ARCOmadrid, such as guided walks through the curated sections: Walk with the curators, the advisory service for the purchase of art, First Collectors, or the ARCOmadrid Forum, a space for debate on current-day creation and the art market with an extensive programme of activities aimed at the international art community.
The different initiatives have earned the ARCO Foundation a nomination in the "Corporate Art Awards", an award that aims to identify, acknowledge and promote excellence and the best practices in the collaboration between the business world and the international art world. The award, organised by pptArt, in collaboration with LUISS Business School and the Italian Ministry of Culture, is curated by Luca Desiata, professor of Corporate Art at the LUISS Business School, and enjoys the advice of a committee made up of art professionals, who will announce the winner in Rome in November.
Birth and objectives of the ARCO Foundation and its Collection
In 1987, IFEMA promoted the ARCO Foundation and its Collection, which aims to promote, research and disseminate contemporary art, as well as the publication, training and teaching of artistic techniques and trends, particularly those relating to the modern manifestations of current-day art.
The ARCO Foundation Collection includes all works acquired annually at ARCOmadrid. Its collection currently constitutes one of the most outstanding contemporary art collections in Spain which has had two very clear objectives right from the outset: first and foremost, to serve as an example for other institutions and companies when it comes to acquiring works at ARCOmadrid, and on the other, to encourage corporate, private and institutional collecting of contemporary art while driving the market around the Fair forwards.
The ARCO Foundation Collection, currently comprising over 300 pieces, has enjoyed the advice of various professionals of the sector from around the world, such as Edy de Wilde; Gloria Moure; Jan Debbaut; Dan Cameron; Iwona Blazwick; María de Corral; Chus Martínez; Sabine Brietwiesser; José Guirao; Miguel von Hafe; Ferrán Barenblit; Glòria Picazo; Yolanda Romero, Taru Elfving and Ángela María Pérez Mejía. In 2016 and 2017, the advisors are Miguel von Hafe and Manuel Segade.
At present, the ARCO Foundation Collection is housed on loan in CA2M Centro de Arte dos de Mayo de Móstoles de la Comunidad de Madrid. The works form part of the exhibition project of CA2M and, as such, are exhibited in the different exhibitions this space hosts.
