SOLO CSV Is a New Madrid Art Venue That Should Be On Your Radar

Summary

• SOLO CSV is the latest can’t-miss art venue in Madrid, Spain, hailing from the international SOLO arts project and collection led by Ana Gervás and David Cantolla
• Currently on view is WE ALL SHINE ON, an exhibition of new paintings by Los Angeles-based artist Aaron Johnson, at its recently-opened Bowman Hal art gallery

Madrid may be well known as an Old Masters capital – Picasso, Bosch, Goya among the sort – but in recent years, the city has been steadily rewriting its reputation in the contemporary art conversation, and redefining its place on the global stage. Adding to your roster of must-see art venues in Spain is SOLO CSV, a new arts and culture space from the Madrileño international arts project SOLO.

Situated just a stone’s throw from the lush Parque del Oeste, the space signals an exciting new chapter for the Ana Gervás and David Cantolla-helmed collection. The venue welcomed visitors for the first time in June with its inaugural show by William Mackinnon at Bowman Hal, its purpose-built gallery, where Aaron Johnson‘s cosmic splendor, WE ALL SHINE ON, is currently on view.

To bring the space to life, SOLO tapped Spanish architecture firm Estudio Herreros to transform the 4,000-square-meter ex-printworks into what’s perhaps best described as an ever-unfurling art labyrinth that keeps both an industrial grit and domestic charm at heart. Eschewing your typical white-walled walkthrough, CSV presents itself as a series of unexpected encounters — from its interior-exterior design that flirts with perceptive play, to paned windows peppered throughout the space, framing off-guard glimpses into collection.

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Courtesy Of The Artist And Solo

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Courtesy Of The Artist And Solo

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Courtesy Of The Artist And Solo

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Courtesy Of The Artist And Solo

Beyond Bowman Hal, the site doubles as a home base for the many projects that make up the SOLO arts incubator at large: ONKAOS, its digital arts and new media initiative; a spacious, on-site conservation and restoration lab; and the recently-announced Movimiento 37, an experimental ode to art as a cross-cultural dialogue, set to debut with a spectral showcase of sound and video works by Georgian artist Koka Nikoladze.

As SOLO’s main venue, Independencia (formerly Colleción SOLO) continues to house its 1,200-piece core across town, the opening of CSV ushers in an exciting era for the collection, one that both reinforces its position as a unifying thread and measures up to the unyielding curiosity that defines its vision. Even as its full scale is yet to come, CSV has already claimed its spot as a must-see destination for the city’s contemporary art explorers.

SOLO CSV
Cta. de San Vicente, 36,
Moncloa – Aravaca,
28008 Madrid, Spain