Canary Islands' Artizar Gallery Opens Madrid Location

Artizar Gallery, a well-known contemporary art space in the Canary Islands, has opened a new location in Madrid. Since 1989, the gallery has been based in a 17th-century house at 63 San Agustín Street in La Laguna. Founded by Carlos E. Pinto, it is now run by his sons, Pedro and Frasco.

This week, on Thursday, Artizar Madrid opened its doors at 6 Doctor Fourquet Street in the Lavapiés neighborhood, close to the Reina Sofía National Art Centre Museum. This area is now considered a hub for contemporary art in the Spanish capital, thanks to its many high-quality galleries.

For the Madrid opening, directed by Inés Alonso Jarabo, Artizar is featuring an exhibition called "Lo que sucede mientras vives" (What Happens While You Live) by Canarian artist Julio Blancas (born in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria in 1967). The exhibition will run until March 14.

Curated by Dalia de la Rosa, "Lo que sucede mientras vives" showcases Blancas's recent work. His art explores the idea of landscape, both natural and mental, and how memory shapes our view of reality. It also looks at how these landscapes are organized, with a strong focus on structure.

Frasco Pinto explained to DIARIO DE AVISOS that opening Artizar Madrid was partly a response to feeling overlooked by the art system. "Our gallery has been doing very well for years, both nationally and internationally," he said, "but we've always felt that the system in Spain excludes regions outside the main centers."

He added, "When faced with the feeling of giving in to a system that doesn't work, that forgets about the provinces, about everything that isn't the big capitals, let alone the Canary Islands, the need arises to open a venue in Madrid. It's about bringing the island art scene, as well as that formed by other national and international artists we work with, and giving it a showcase in the capital."

Frasco Pinto emphasized, "We had to take this step to give greater visibility and impact to the artists we work with."

Artizar will now operate from two locations, each with its own exhibition schedule. "It won't be about moving exhibitions from one space to another, except for specific projects," clarified the gallerist from Tenerife. "Instead, it's about expanding, doubling, the number of projects we do each year in La Laguna and, from now on, in Madrid."

The gallery also plans to increase its presence at national and international art fairs. "These fairs help our artists gain exposure, and we want to broaden our reach," said Frasco Pinto. "Our team has grown, and we can do much more. In Tenerife, my brother and I are there, along with our father, who, though retired, is still part of the project and always shares his wisdom. And now Madrid is added, with Inés Alonso leading the management."

Artizar Gallery has long focused on America, participating in US fairs like Expo Chicago and Pinta Miami, as well as Mexico's Zona Maco, the most important fair in Latin America. They will be at Zona Maco again from February 4 to 8 for its twenty-second edition.

The gallery also has strong ties with Cuba, bringing Cuban artists to La Laguna and taking Canarian artists to the Havana Biennial. Frasco Pinto noted, "This westward gaze of ours is largely explained by the automatic empathy they feel there towards Canarians, which is difficult to explain—an empathy that throughout this time has opened many doors for us and for the artists we work with."

Finding a space on Madrid's Doctor Fourquet Street was crucial for this new venture. "It is a place where seven of Spain's most important galleries are located, which means that every time an exhibition opens, a synergy is generated between spaces, projects, and artists, which is exactly what we need," the gallerist told the newspaper.

He added, "Many times, the Canarian art scene is viewed on the Peninsula from a distance, almost as if it were another country. That's why we wanted the gallery to be in a high-traffic location. In Madrid, there are other very fashionable proposals, such as those in Carabanchel, but we wanted to be close to the Reina Sofía, an environment where almost everything related to contemporary art in Spain happens today. The location was key, and we have found a wonderful space."

Frasco Pinto believes Madrid is currently experiencing a vibrant period, much like Barcelona once did, and "has become one of Europe's most dynamic cultural capitals." He emphasized, "We felt we had to take this step, and hopefully more proposals will come from the Islands, to provide an opportunity for greater visibility and impact for the artists we work with." Artizar Gallery currently represents about 25 artists, 15 of whom are Canarian.

These Canarian artists include Carlos Nicanor, Romina Rivero, Marco Alom, Idaira del Castillo, Santiago Palenzuela, and Laura Mesa. From mainland Spain are artists like Paula Valdeón, Amparo Sard, Pamen Pereira, and Jesús Zurita. From Cuba, Marta María Pérez Bravo, René Peña, and Roberto Diago, who will represent his country with the Canarian gallery at the 61st Venice Biennale from May 9 to November 22.

The first exhibition at Artizar Madrid, "Lo que sucede mientras vives," features an artist who primarily uses pencil and graphite on various surfaces, including canvas, paper, and sometimes everyday objects like satellite dishes, which are displayed in the exhibition.

According to the gallery, "with nature as a source of inspiration, Julio Blancas works with a simple and persistent method, starting with the basic graphic mark of a line. He then layers these lines in different directions to create luminous shades." They added, "Thus, the work invites us to first get lost in that forest and those textures he skillfully creates, losing ourselves in his natural landscape, and then to be surprised by his technical skill, losing ourselves in the mental landscape."

Dalia de la Rosa writes in her curatorial text that Julio Blancas's work in this exhibition, featuring pieces from 2017 to 2025, "offers an experience of memory rather than a single, universal image. His forests, stones, hollows, and glimmers don't just show a landscape; they activate a state, like entering a timeless memory."

She continues, "The material persists—stroke, shadow, light, patience—and transforms looking into a form of pause: a gesture of attention against haste. Between the stone (what remains) and the glow (what appears and disappears), the work makes visible that which establishes us without announcement: what happens while we live. Before these pieces, we do not remain at a distance: the body adjusts, the gaze slows down, and something intimate ignites without explanation. Blancas does not merely show; he modifies the way of seeing, and in that transformation, the image becomes a place, and the place, memory."

Julio Blancas, the artist featured in the Madrid exhibition, explores the idea of landscape, both natural and mental, in his work.

The Tenerife-based art historian, critic, and researcher noted that "Everything Blancas seeks—without needing to declare it—inevitably appears in the light of our own hours. Each piece functions like a parabolic mirror that does not reflect a face, but a time. And in that reflection there is a fortune: to carry with oneself, forever, an alien breath that is no longer alien, because it has mingled with the fragile and powerful material of our memory." Blancas has exhibited his work in many major galleries in the Canary Islands, mainland Spain, and internationally.