10 Madrid Galleries for Contemporary Art Lovers

Mad is Mad is a gallery devoted to contemporary creation, new sensibilities, irony and urban experimentation. Born in 2005 in the heart of the lively Chueca neighbourhood, the gallery works as a platform for emerging talents and combines the art space with book editing and a shop selling unique design objects. With the aim of bringing contemporary art closer to the public, the gallery engages the attention of wider audiences thanks to its affordable prices and its long-term collective exhibitions. More than 100 artists (such as Paula Bonet, Rainer Torrado, Aitor Saraiba and Rubenimichi) from at least 40 countries have exhibited their work at Mad is Mad, where photography, painting, video art, drawing and design converge in a plurality of concepts and formats.

Mondo Galeriía is a versatile space for contemporary art, mainly focussed on photography and design. As boundaries between disciplines, styles and trends disappear at high speed, this gallery pays close attention to what is happening in all those areas, in order to bring them together in a single space, aware of the power of photography to communicate emotions and stories. Mondo Galería hosts exhibitions of emerging and established talents such as Andrea Santolaya, Pep Bonet, Alfred Wertheimer and Lawrence Schiller. In addition to this, it is home to a photography bookshop and organises seminars, workshops and masterclasses with the active participation of its artists.

Travesí­a Cuatro was founded by Silvia Ortiz and Inés López-Quesada in 2003 with the aim of promoting emerging and mid-career national and international artists, putting an emphasis on Latin American talents. Since then, Travesía Cuatro has consolidated its name and strengthened its presence on international markets and at fairs such as ARCOmadrid, Art Basel Miami or Zona Maco. The work of the gallery is primarily related to building a bridge between the Latin American and European art scenes, and its program is constantly expanding. Travesí­a Cuatro also has a sister venue in Guadalajara, Mexico.

Rafael Pérez Hernando gallery was first launched in 1996, in a small basement near to the current venue, which opened in 2004. At the beginning, the gallery focussed on exhibitions of established artists. At the new location, the gallery has updated its former premises to put emerging artists in the spotlight and celebrate a spirit of eclecticism; it looks at a range of different disciplines, from sculpture and installation to photography and painting.

Elvira González is a prestigious name on the Madrid art scene. Director of Galería Theo for 30 years, González turned out to be a pioneering gallerist when she brought exhibitions of the most important artists of the century, such as Auguste Rodin, Juan Gris and Francis Bacon, to Spain. In 1994 she opened her eponymous gallery focussing on European and American art of the 20th and 21st centuries. Nowadays, her daughters and son have joined her to steer and continue her artistic trajectory. The Elvira González gallery has displayed the works of great national and international contemporary artists such as Antoni Tapiès, Eduardo Chillida, Elena del Rivero, Robert Irwin, Robert Mapplethorpe and Miquel Barceló. The gallery also collaborates with major museums and cultural institutions, and provides guidance to private and public collections.

The Heinrich Ehrhardt gallery was founded in 1980 and spearheaded the introduction of German artists to Madrid. The gallery then moved to Frankfurt in 1985. Heinrich Ehrhardt devoted several years to public art projects, completed in collaboration with architects and urban planners, and organised major exhibitions in European museums before his own gallery reopened in Madrid in 1998, in the neighbourhood of Malasaña. This lively space now shows young Spanish artists such as Julia Spínola and Secundino Hernández.

Juana de Aizpuru is admired worldwide for her inspiring leadership in contemporary art promotion; she was the creator and first director of the ARCO international fair and helped to seed a national interest in contemporary art. She founded her first gallery in Seville back in 1970. In 1983, she arrived in Madrid and opened a new arts space in the neighbourhood of Chueca, where it has remained ever since, outlasting the Seville venue. Devoted to international and national talents of numerous disciplines, the Juana de Aizpuru gallery has photography as a cornerstone of its catalogue, featuring prestigious names such as Alberto García-Alix, Cristina García Rodero and Joel-Peter Witkin.

Opened in 2011 in the trendy neighbourhood of Malasaña, the Sabrina Amrani gallery promotes artistic dialogue and welcomes the bringing together of political and social thought through the works of its established and emerging artists from all over the world, such as Marlon de Azambuja, Younes Baba-Ali, Amina Benbouchta, Elvire Bonduelle and Zoulikha Bouabdellah. The gallery has participated in international art fairs including Casablanca Art Week and Beirut Art Fair. Its owner and director Sabrina Amrani, who is French of Algerian origin, pays particular attention to new voices from the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia.

Since 1990, Elba Benítez gallery has showcased a wide range of contemporary art disciplines in its stunning location in the courtyard of an old villa: installation, sculpture, video, photography, painting, performance and collective action artworks have been displayed within its privileged arts space. The gallery also aims to explore the interplay of art with other disciplines, such as architecture, film, tourism and public space projects. Elba Benítez pays particular attention to Latin American art and promotes national and international artists, both emerging and established, including Cristina Iglesias, Gintaras Didžiapetris and Yaima Carrazana.

Galería Marta Cervera has been an important part of Madrid’s art scene since it was founded in 1996. The contemporary art space has moved a few times since, but has been in its current location since 2013. Here, it shows contemporary works by both Spanish and international artists, including James Welling, Raha Raissnia and Ludovica Carbotta.