Madrid

Welcome to the inaugural event of The Arts Society Madrid! Join us on 22 October at 18:30 for this enthralling TASM Talk titled Hidden Canvases: Street Art and The City by renown Fifth Wall TV Director, Doug Gillen. Hidden Canvases explores the key stages in street art's growth examining the different elements and styles that comprise the scene with no rules. From the international superstars to the local underground heroes, you are guaranteed to leave knowing your Invader from your Aryz and who knows you might even start looking at the world a little differently.

10 February 2027: Ai Weiwei: Everything is Art, Everything is Politics, by Frank Woodgate. Ai Weiwei is a contemporary Chinese artist and activist known for using sculpture, installation, and public art to address human rights, politics, and power. In Ai Weiwei’s work, there is no division between art and politics. Through sculpture, film, installation, photography and architecture – he has campaigned for human rights with works dealing with oppression, commemoration and Chinese identity and social history, as poignant as they are provocative.

10 March 2027: Joaquín Sorolla: Master of Light, `presented by Aranxta Sardina. Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida was a Spanish painter who brought international fame to Spain with his impressionist work in the early 1900's. Sorolla excelled in the painting of portraits, landscapes, and monumental works of social and historical themes. His most typical works are characterized by a dexterous representation of the people and landscape under the bright sunlight of his native land and sunlit water. Sardina narrates the life of Sorolla, with his rise to fame in the international world of art from North America to Europe.

14 April 2027: The Greatest Art Heist in the World, by Georgina Bexon. March,1990: This extraordinary story of thirteen masterpieces by Degas, Rembrandt, Vermeer, Degas and Manet, worth an estimated $600 million were stolen from Boston's Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. The stolen paintings have never been recovered. Their empty gilded frames still hang on the museum walls in their original spots.

12 May 2027: Art of the 21st Century, by Anna Mozynska. How do we make sense of the art of our time? In this fascinating presentation, Mozynska examines some of the recent trends and practices which have helped to define the art of the new millennium. She illutrates how under the influence of globalization, art from other continents which has so often been overlooked in the past, now plays a major role in museum acquisitions and display. A discussion of how and why documentary practices and new AI media have become so dominant, and the way in which ‘participation’ and ‘relational aesthetics’ have emerged as key expressions. Artists include Ai Weiwei, Francis Alys, Jeremy Deller, Adrian Ghenie and Mona Hatoum.

9 June 2027: Who is Andy Warhol? By Alejandra Carazo. Warhol was an American artist widely regarded as the most important artist of the second half of the 20th century. His practice spanned painting, filmmaking, photography, publishing, and performance art. A controversial artist, his work sells today for over $200 million!

13 October 2027: The History of Al-Andalus, narrated by Ian Cockburn transports you to the invasion of the Iberian Peninsula in 711AD by the Ummayad Caliphate of Damascus. Aided by Berber tribesmen, his army quickly overthrew the ruling of the Christian Visogoth Kingdom. This epic story tells the creation of the Kingdom of Al.Andalus and the development of spectacular architecture. The story begins with the Great Mosque of Córdoba, the Royal Palace of Granada to the introduction of rich culture, such as exquisite silk textiles, carved ivory caskets and rare bronze sculptures.

10 November 2027: Calatrava: Spain's Superstar Architect, by Ed Glinert
Santiago Calatrava is known for his gleaming white, sky-high designs. His style has been described as distinctly neo-Futurist for its innovative use of materials and sleek, forward-thinking aesthetic. His fluid, dreamlike buildings in civic space encompass bridges, train stations, and cultural edifices. His most famous projects include the Milwaukee Art Museum, the Turning Torso tower in Malmö, Sweden, the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge in Dallas, Texas, and his largest project, the City of Arts and Sciences and Opera House, in Valencia.

8 December 2027: How to Look at Art: A Strategy for Interpretation, presented by Lynne Gibson. Would you like to develop your confidence in looking at art? Do you want to discuss your opinions with insight? Put away the head-phones, take your nose out of the catalogue and discover a strategy for looking at art. The strategy is a flexible approach to interpreting any piece of art work, giving you the confidence to become an active, rather than a passive, viewer. It is a tool for life: simple and effective. Your next visit to a museum will be seen through a new perspective!