ARCO 82

A visual and plastic artist, Tino Calabuig was a driving force behind Madrid’s democratic movement of visual artists and co-founder of the Redor Gallery (1971–1988), alongside Alberto Corazón. Outside the commercial art world, he pursued a career marked by social and political commitment. In this documentary, made on the occasion of the very first ARCO Fair in 1982, Calabuig captures its atmosphere from a critical perspective. Via interviews, he establishes connections between various agents in the art world, such as artists, critics, gallery owners, intellectuals and politicians, reflecting on issues such as the quality of contemporary Spanish art, the fair’s importance and its international projection. Among those interviewed are artists such as Luis Gordillo, Maruja Mallo, Eduardo Chillida, Juan Genovés, Cristóbal Toral, José Luis Sánchez, Antonio Saura, gallery owner Denise René, composers Luis de Pablo and Ismael Peña, academics José Luis López Aranguren and Giulio Carlo Argan, and the Spanish Minister for Culture, Soledad Becerril at the time.