#50 Cy Schnabel

Thank you so much, Roland.

Yeah.

Let's start with, typically I start with kind of China, but let's start with here and now.

So tell me more about like Madrid as an art city.

So Madrid is the city with this incredible tradition of art history and painting, particularly with the Prado, of course.

But I guess my mother is Spanish, and so I have a very personal relationship to Spain.

And I also feel like it was a city that for many years was very insular or quite... quite Spanish which is not a bad thing but not nearly as cosmopolitan as other European capitals or perhaps didn't really know how to market itself to the world in the same way so I think it's becoming it's always been an art destination but I think that currently between the the galleries, the new emerging galleries, the new voices in art here in Spain, the institutions, that there is an extremely interesting art scene at the moment.

And there's also so many international artists who have never exhibited in Madrid.

And because of the history and the context, there is an opportunity there.

So Madrid allowed me to kind of consolidate the presence of my gallery in Spain and to start formally representing the artists who I first showed.

And I needed more space.

And I think the level of exposure and visibility is a lot greater here.

There's also just the fact that Yeah, I mean, as I am focused on painting, not exclusively, you know, I also have embraced showing artists who have a very multimedia sensibility like Tommy Malikoff or like Alejandro Garmendia.

I think it's, you know, the history is fascinating.

The fact that it was Muslim for almost 800 years when it was ruled by the Moors.

And it was a time where there was Jewish, Christian and Muslim communities all coexisting.

So I think this kind of cultural variety that you find here and the difference between the regions and the landscape and the climate is what I think makes this such an interesting place.

Would you agree that Madrid is Southern Europe's art capital?

I certainly think so.

I mean, that's why I opened my gallery here.

You know, I think Athens is very interesting.

I think Naples is also a very interesting place.

But, you know, perhaps I'm a little biased because I'm half Spanish.

But I do think that, you know, Madrid is also the bridge in Europe with Latin America.

So, you know, you have galleries from Mexico, galleries from Colombia, from Peru that have opened here.