TRAVELER’S DIARY: Madrid-5 Exhibitions

At the end of September, Madrid revealed itself as a vibrant canvas of contemporary art. In three days, I wandered through five exhibitions — from intimate gallery spaces to major institutions — each offering a distinct pulse, color, and story. What follows is a look at these standout shows, where light, form, and imagination intersect, giving a sense of the city’s lively artistic rhythm.

By Alkistis Boutsioukou

At Gerhardt Braun Gallery, Leon Löwentraut presents “Landscapes”, a series of twelve acrylic paintings and nine charcoal drawings inspired by places he has lived or travelled — the South of France, Sardinia, Tanzania, and his studio in the Algarve. The young German artist, born in 1998, often paints directly from the tube, combining wild colors and shapes in a style influenced by Picasso, Matisse, and Basquiat. The exhibition is striking in its vibrancy and precision. The aluminum installation at the center enhances the sense of lightness and movement, creating an atmosphere where color becomes both subject and emotion. It feels like a passage through seasons, with summer dominating — radiant, confident, and filled with air. Seen from afar, the canvases burst with energy; up close, the thick layers of pigment reveal their tactile pleasure. On the upper floor, where works by other gallery artists are also displayed, a few earlier pieces by Löwentraut can be found. Their tone is different — expressive charcoal figures and a female form washed in pink suggest a more introspective energy. These works highlight the artist’s range: from the luminous expansiveness of Landscapes to the intimacy of line and gesture that underpins his practice. Info: Gerhardt Braun Gallery, Calle Claudio Coello 72, Madrid, Spain, Duration: 11/9-18/12/2025, Days & Hours: Mon-Sat 11:00-20:00, https://gb-gallery.es/

At Alzueta Gallery, Maru Quiñonero presents “CASA VACÍA”, a series of abstract compositions shown alongside her newly published poetry collection Como agarrar un puñado de arroz. The works create a subtle tension between color and word, between the act of painting and the stillness it leaves behind. The focus lies on the sense of background, and on the smooth, balanced geometry that shapes each canvas. A restrained palette of soft blacks, pinks, sky blues, and brown tones gives the works a calm, architectural rhythm. Info: Alzueta Gallery, C. Marqués de Monasterio 1, Madrid, Spain, Duration: 11/9-11/10/2025, Days & Hours: Mon-Fri 9:00-14:00 & 16:00-19:00, Sat 10 :30-14 :30, www.alzuetagallery.com/

After its debut at the Musée de l’Orangerie in Paris, “Desenfocado” arrives in Madrid, tracing the expressive potential of blurriness from Monet’s “Water Lilies” to contemporary experimentations. The exhibition unfolds not as a timeline but as a visual essay, showing how the loss of clarity can reveal emotion, distance, and the fragile beauty of perception itself. From Rothko’s meditative color fields to Gerhard Richter’s layered abstractions, the blurred image becomes a language of its own — poetic, uncertain, and profoundly human. The curatorial approach is one of the exhibition’s greatest achievements. The wall texts, concise yet evocative, lead visitors gently through the theme without imposing interpretations. They balance knowledge and accessibility, transforming the visit into an act of discovery. Rather than explaining, they accompany — allowing the audience to read, look, and feel in rhythm with the works. Among the contemporary voices, Eva Nielsen’s “Scope” introduces a dialogue between architecture and transparency; Y.Z. Kami’s “Hands” meditates on presence through gesture and silence; while Mame-Diarra Niang’s “Morphology of Dream” turns photography into a shifting mirage, echoing the exhibition’s central concern: how images hold both clarity and disappearance at once. Together, these works reinforce the idea that blurriness is not the absence of vision, but another way of seeing. Info: CaixaForum Madrid, P.º del Prado, 36, Centro, Madrid, Spain, Duration: 17/9/2025-12/4/2026, Days & Hours: Daily 10:00-20:00, https://caixaforum.org/

“Light Spectra” presents Naufus Ramírez-Figueroa’s work in Spain for the first time with a comprehensive selection spanning video, sculpture, performance, and installation. The exhibition reflects on memory, identity, and Guatemala’s history of colonial and civil violence, transforming biography and historical trauma into immersive, contemplative spaces. Among my personal favorite works, the show opens with a striking video installation that sets a dreamlike tone. In “Place of Solace” (2020), performance, costume, and cinematic staging create a meditation on the unspoken effects of violence and the limits of language. “God’s Reptilian Finger” (2015) combines fluorescent materials and humor to reflect on conspiracy theories, myth, and belief, transforming the absurd into a visually compelling, critical spectacle. Also selected as a favorite, “Life in His Mouth, Death Cradles Her Arm” (2016) shows the artist cradling a melting block of ice in a Guatemala City cemetery, producing a potent image of fragility, memory, and collective loss. Together, these works reveal Ramírez-Figueroa’s ability to merge history, myth, and poetic imagination, creating an exhibition that is at once visually striking and emotionally resonant. Info: Museo Reina Sofía, C. de Sta. Isabel, 52, Centro, Madrid, Spain, Duration: 28/5-20/10/2025, Days & Hours: Mon & Wed-Sat 10:00-21:00, Sun 10:00-14:30, www.museoreinasofia.es/

For “Turiya”, Nicole Miller’s first solo exhibition in Madrid, presents a single-channel laser light installation dedicated to Alice Coltrane, or Turiyasangitananda. Using laser technology, Miller transforms audio waves into light, creating a synesthetic experience where sound becomes visual and light becomes audible. The work reflects on Black excellence, spiritual transformation, and the act of creation, honoring Coltrane’s legacy as a vessel for communication and healing. Experiencing the installation is a journey from initial disorientation to immersion. The seemingly chaotic lines of light and white-noise sounds gradually orchestrate into rhythm and pauses that resonate unexpectedly with the viewer, transforming confusion into reflection. The result is an intimate, almost spiritual encounter, where complexity and simplicity coexist and the strange becomes quietly healing. Info: Carlier | Gebauer Gallery, Calle de José Marañón 4, Madrid, Spain, Duration: 1/9-25/10/2025, Days & Hours: Tue-Fri 11:00-19:00, Sat 11:00-14:00, www.carliergebauer.com/

Photo: Estefanía Peñafiel, series “A Breath of Welcome”, 2013–2019. Courtesy of the artist © Estefanía Peñafiel Loaiza