The 29th edition of Spain’s leading contemporary art fair, ARCOmadrid, has opened its doors. For the first time, a city—Los Angeles—is the fair’s “honored guest,” rather than an entire country.

From this month’s issue of Art in America: “The switch, says the fair’s director, Lourdes Fernandez, reflects the fact that ‘contemporary meaning is not in countries but in cities.’ … It probably doesn’t hurt that L.A. is full of collectors and galleries, very few of which participate in ARCO, representing a potential future constituency.”

Be sure to check out this interesting story on the fair’s opening day at artdaily.org and this great article on the L.A. galleries participating at the Los Angeles Times.

Pictured: No Title (His transformation is), by Raymond Pettibon