Art has the power to transform our perspective on the world and to question how we live, how we relate to one another, and how we inhabit the spaces around us. With this premise, Metamorphosis: Space and Society in the Idealista Collection arrives in Madrid, an exhibition that brings together more than 120 photographic and video art works by 58 artists from around the world, organized by Serrería Belga in collaboration with idealista .
The exhibition celebrates the 25th anniversary of idealista , a company founded in 2000, and highlights a collection that, for 15 years, has reflected the company's commitment to contemporary art and reflection on current society.
A collection with a global perspective
The exhibition brings together artists from Europe, America, Africa, and Asia , including key figures such as Teresa Margolles, Cristina Lucas, Diana Larrea, Mladen Stilinovic, Kiluanji Kia Henda, and Olaf Breuning . All the pieces come from the idealist collection , a project that seeks to capture the changes and tensions of our time through photography and video art.
Curated by Elisa Hernando , the exhibition can be visited from December 17 to March 8, 2026 at the Espacio Cultural Serrería Belga , a unique industrial building located next to the Paseo del Arte in Madrid.
Exploring space and society: four areas
The exhibition is organized into four thematic sections , which invite reflection on the conflicts and transformations of the contemporary world:
1. Territorial tensions
This section analyzes the geographical, urban, and economic conflicts that shape inhabited spaces. Works by Teresa Margolles, Adrián Melis , and Liu Bolin show how urban planning, censorship, and real estate development impact collective memory and the way we inhabit our environments.
2. Environmental paradoxes
This section addresses the relationship between progress, the climate crisis, and official representation. Artists such as Ramón Masats, Panos Kokkinias , and Cecilia Paredes highlight the tension between the utopia of development and its real effects on the environment and ecosystems.
3. Human archaeology
The ordinary becomes extraordinary. Everyday spaces acquire symbolic and political dimensions, revealing social, emotional, and gender tensions. Works by Bárbara Wagner & Benjamín de Burca, José María Mellado , and Colita show how the daily can reflect contemporary social and cultural dynamics.
4. Everyday spaces
In this final section, artists such as LUCE, Yuval Avital , and Anastasia Samoylova transform spaces into canvases that record memory, history, and conflict. Here, the territory ceases to be a utilitarian backdrop and becomes a space for aesthetic reflection and social critique.
Idealist Prize for Contemporary Art
The exhibition also includes the winning works of the idealista Contemporary Art Prize , created in 2018 to recognize young artists and consolidate the company's commitment to contemporary creation.
As its curator, Elisa Hernando , explains, this exhibition proposes understanding society as a creative act in which “desire, conflict, and hope” coexist. The works reflect cultural, economic, and emotional dynamics, inviting the public to rethink how we inhabit and transform our environment.
An invitation to see things differently
Located in Serrería Belga , an early 20th-century industrial building, the exhibition invites visitors to pause and reflect on the space, society, and time in which we live. Discovering the Idealist collection is, ultimately, an opportunity to experience art as a critical mirror of reality and as a tool for imagining new ways of inhabiting the world.
