A Curated Art and Design Guide To Madrid
I love Madrid and I’m so happy to be back here. This is such a vibrant, sunny place full of personality. The city that seduced Hemingway and that houses Picasso’s “Guernica” is a tremendous source of inspiration for creatives around the world, including me. From the genius of Almodovar, to the passion of bullfighting, Madrid seems to have infinite stories and never-ending places to keep people entertained. That is why I put together this highly edited guide and it is limited to my favorite contemporary art galleries and design shops. Enjoy Madrid!
Contemporary Art Galleries
Distrito 4 with a photography piece hanging on the wall by Flavia Da Rin
Distrito 4: mostly focused on Photography, their shows always feel fresh and avant garde. From their roster, I really love Alexander Apostol and Flavia Da Rin.
Galeria Elba Benitez
Galeria Elba Benitez: although Benitez represents a wide range of contemporary artists, she is very much inclined to select fantastic Latin American artists. Among my favorites are El Ultimo Grito, Ernesto Neto, Vik Muniz and Cristina Iglesias.
Galeria Cayon
Galeria Cayon: Adolfo Cayon represents artists that cross the worlds of geometric abstractionism, op art and kinetics. He has great pieces by “Herminio”, David Magan and Alfonso Frateggiani Bianchi. Venezuelan masters, Carlos Cruz-Diez and Jesus Soto are also part of Cayon's backroom of treasures.
Galeria "My Name is Lolita"
My Name’s Lolita: Ramon Garcia established his gallery more than 20 years ago at a time where all the artists he represented where really young and emerging. He thought they were all like “Lolita” the famous character of the eponymous novel written by Vladimir Nobokov, hence the gallery’s name. Among my favorites: Ciuco Gutierrez, Paco Pomet and Juan Cuellar.
Design Shopping
Close to the famous “El Rastro”, Antigüedades Las Nuevas Galerías is a building from the 1940s with a huge courtyard in the middle that hosts more than 60 shops that sell antique and vintage pieces from all over the world. It really is a place to spend hours browsing.
Gaston & Daniela
Gaston & Daniela, which has many locations in the city, carries some of the most beautiful upholstery fabrics and textiles. Recently, they started selling wallpaper too.
Isolée is a concept store that is a little bit overwhelming because it has so much: fashion, beauty, books, home décor and food. However, I always find here something that I have never seen anywhere else.
Lio Vintage
Lio Vintage: I love how much variety of vintage furniture and interesting accents this shop has. I particularly love the set of bottles covered with different fabrics and threads that they produce.
Zara Home
Zara Home: consistent with the “Zara” brand, the “Home” sister of the family is always looking to offer great design at even greater prices. The kids’ line is unbeatably beautiful and affordable and I love how they keep adding pieces weekly.
Guille Garcia Hoz
Guille Garcia Hoz: has a “shoproom” with many objects and upholstered furniture, hand-painted case goods, unique tabletop items, candles and many more trinkets that won’t let anybody leave empty handed.