Galería de Cristal del Palacio de Cibeles

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The Glass Gallery is a place for gatherings, meetings and celebrations; a multi-purpose space designed to serve the city which was created by covering the former Ruiz de Alarcón alleyway, previously used by mail delivery vehicles.

The 2,800 m2 gallery is enclosed by a sophisticated structure, made from a glass dome with an organic form, whose complex, original design supports the light, transparent structure (500 tonnes) at a height of 30 metres above ground level. It was built using nearly 2,000 unique triangular panes of glass supported by 2,966 bars connecting to 1,034 nodes.

Open to the public every day from 10 am to 8 pm except days on which activities are scheduled.

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Cartographies of Perception

ART MADRID 2025 ・ Galería de Cristal del Palacio de Cibeles

06.03.2025

On its 20th anniversary, Art Madrid dedicates its theme to exploring the relationship between human beings, architecture, the city, and the landscape. Under the title Cartographies of Perception, this section—curated by PROYECTOR—presents a selection of international video art works that examine these interactions from contemporary and critical perspectives. PROYECTOR, a leading platform for moving image art, invites us to immerse ourselves in an experience where time, space, and perception converge on screen.

This year’s collection offers a reflection on the connections between humans and their surroundings, the boundaries between the real and the imaginary, and the tensions between the natural and the constructed. As the critic John Berger once said, “Art is a way of seeing, a constant discovery.” The selected works are not only vessels of visual beauty but also invitations to discover new ways of observing, questioning, and claiming representations of the world.

In this conceptual journey, The Divine Way by Ilaria Di Carlo evokes a labyrinthine descent inspired by the Divine Comedy, where staircases transform into metaphors for psychological and architectural transitions. Meanwhile, Imitation of Life by Juan Carlos Bracho uses a monumental mirror to explore landscape as reflection and the image as a bottomless well, questioning our perception of our surroundings.

In the arid desert of El Mirage dry lake, Lukas Marxt inscribes a spiral with a vehicle in Circular Inscription, paying homage to Land Art while questioning the human footprint on the landscape. In her performance Atlas, Magda Gebhardt bears the symbolic weight of the world while constructing and deconstructing landscapes that challenge notions of time and space, revealing the artifice inherent in the image.

Yuchi Hsiao’s introspective journey in Somewhere I Belong to Be features toy cars moving across her face to symbolize a personal transition, while Wafer Bearer Deep Rain by lololol explores the relationship between technology and daily life in Taiwan, the global epicenter of semiconductor production. Finally, Breaking News: The Flooding of the Louvre by Tezi Gabunia offers a haunting vision of a flooded museum, anticipating the impact of climate change on cultural heritage.

Each work in this selection not only presents poetic and philosophical perspectives on life, but also invites collectors to take part in this conceptual journey. By acquiring these pieces, they become custodians of stories and visions that reflect—and challenge—our understanding of the contemporary world.

ART MADRID 2025

01.01.1970

For the 2025 edition, Art Madrid has developed, together with the PROYECTOR Platform, a program parallel to the activities of the Galleries under the concept «Ciudad Territorio», focusing on public space, the city and the territory as axes of the practices artistic. This program will include activities during the month of February in key points of the capital and during Madrid Art Week (between March 5 and 9) in Galería de Cristal of Palacio de Cibeles.

Part of the parallel program includes a public action activity with an Augmented Reality project accessible to the general public: “Ciudad Sutil.” This project that dialogues directly with the territory, with the city and its inhabitants, generating an exchange of views. Augmented Reality expands the concept of the art fair, allowing an audience not so familiar with the artistic sector to delve into the possibilities of digital art, making it more accessible.

The augmented reality piece is developed by German artist Susi Vetter. For this piece titled Synthesis, the artist explores the concept of the Anthropocene to create a site-specific project adapted to the surroundings of the fair entrance. In this project imaginary plants, flowers and the face of a being with human appearance emerge from the earth, blending harmoniously with the surrounding landscape. It feels like a dreamland until the being looks at us and starts shedding tears. This change makes the scene uncomfortable, forcing us to question this seemingly idyllic fusion with nature.

The “Ciudad Sutil” activity will be available during the opening dates of the fair, between March 5 and 9, 2025, and will be visible from Calle Montalbán, 1, a location that coincides with the entrance to Galería de Cristal.