Radisson Hotel Group’s bold lifestyle brand Radisson RED has officially partnered with this year’s ARCOMadrid contemporary art fair, unveiling an inaugural contemporary art exhibition at Radisson RED Madrid, The exhibition is authored by two of the most relevant figures in the world of contemporary art, Diana Larrea and Daniel Canogar, winner of the XIX edition of the ARCO/BEEP Award for Electronic Art.

pen to the public until March 31, Radisson RED Madrid’s inaugural contemporary art exhibition includes a selection of 23 works by both artists that are on display throughout the hotel’s lobby and rooftop.

In collaboration with the gallery Espacio Mínimo, Diana Larrea’s art pieces include four of her nine-painting series that use infrared reflectography. Inspired by the world of art restoration, these artworks use infrared light to reveal hidden information under the opaque layers of pigments. Larrea has redrawn paintings with black charcoal on canvas, in order to point to the reflectograms obtained by using this unique technique. On another wall in the hotel’s entrance, guests will find seven photographs also by Larrea entitled “Such a Day Like Today”. These photographs are hybrid works of feminist activism and historical research, including details published on social media networks, as well as biographies and works of forgotten or unknown women artists of the past. In tribute to them, Larrea has selected self-portraits of great women painters and has digitally modified them to present them to the viewer as if they were records of a phantasmagoria. 

The second exhibition includes three projects by one of Spain’s most significant digital artists, Daniel Canogar, an acclaimed digital artist who recently earned recognition as the winner of the XIX edition of the ARCO/BEEP Award for Electronic Art. This prestigious award celebrates Canogar’s pioneering contributions to contemporary art, particularly in the realm of electronic art. In collaboration with the Max Estrella gallery, three videos are created on a rotating basis. The most innovative is Scrawl, a digital piece that reacts to Twitter trends in real time. The denunciatory work is constantly changing and attempts to capture the multiple forces and tensions that cohabit social media spaces such as Twitter. These tweets are translated in real time into pieces of graffiti that, unlike professional graffiti, are done quickly and anonymously to highlight the content’s harshness, sincerity, or at times, simple phrases of self-expression. The artwork represents the dual desires for both self-expression and the societal urge to “clean” the chaotic graffiti world as a work of social protest.

The second work by Canogar, entitled, Wayward, is inspired by postwar artists who began to use photographs from the press, such as Andy Warhol, Martha Rosler, Robert Rauschenberg and Wolf Vostellhs. In the sixties, social protests encouraged many artists to manipulate press photos of wars, political demonstrations, and other social upheavals. Fifty years later, Wayward reprocesses photojournalistic images, but this time filtered by digital tools. Pictures from the daily news are digitally processed with visual effects that evoke analog and photochemical techniques of the past. This endless stream of information becomes fodder for these generative artworks that are process-based and never ending.

Canogar’s third and last work at Radisson RED Madrid, Chyron, is rendered with the use of chyrons of news channels, which is the information superimposed over the lower part of a screen. The tickers intertwine like a large, frayed fabric, a tangle that evokes the fragile and at times unstable balance of an information ecosystem created from disparate and even conflicting sources. Updated in real time, this algorithmic artwork features chyrons of major international news channels, including CNN, Fox News, MSNBC News, Bloomberg, BBC News, Reuters, CNBC, Al Jazeera, and Le Monde.

As part of Radisson RED’s commitment to art territory and in celebration of ARCOMadrid, Radisson RED Madrid has created five distinctive art tours starting at Radisson RED Madrid and following a curated itinerary visiting a selection of art galleries and museums in the hotel’s surrounding Golden Triangle of Art. Radisson RED Madrid has also created two new bespoke art tours to continue enjoying the art of the capital throughout the fair. The first route highlights the role of women in museums and the art world, with a focus on the Prado Museum. Among all European museums, the Prado is the one in which women have played the most decisive role with regard to its configuration, either as collectors and promoters or through their key contribution to its foundation and existence. The second tour has been designed by Eva Ruiz, founder of the artistic movement of Doctor Fourquet Street, where the tour takes place. The tour includes visits to different galleries participating in ARCOMadrid, including Maisterravalbuena, The Goma, Helga de Alvear, 1 Mira, Espacio Mínimo, Juan Silió, Moises, Rosa Santos, F2 and The Ryder.

Located on Calle de Atocha, one of the main bustling avenues in Madrid and in the heart of the Golden Triangle of Art, Radisson RED Madrid is steps away from some of the world’s most renowned art museums, galleries, and UNESCO heritage sites. The hotel is a culinary destination in its own right, featuring three offerings from 3-star Michelin chef Eneko Atxa, one of which is situated on the rooftop that provides unrivaled city views. The hotel features 260 modern rooms, 10 of which are suites. Each of the rooms and suites embody Radisson RED’s signature design-focused bold, cutting-edge design and creative artwork, as well as floor-to-ceiling windows, and balconies with city views. Artwork seen throughout the property is inspired by the Renaissance and Baroque eras, as well as by works seen at the nearby Prado Museum. The Radisson RED art collection aims to be flexible, connected with the guests’ global mindset. The hotel interiors welcome guests to the lobby with cozy, comfortable seating, and warm lighting. Local touches are seen in the elevators, where panels are upholstered using the typical fabrics of Madrid.