La Pedrera becomes a poetic labyrinth with Cristina Iglesias’ first major exhibition in Barcelona
On 9 October 2025, the Fundació Catalunya La Pedrera opens “Cristina Iglesias. Passages”, the first major solo exhibition in Barcelona dedicated to the Basque sculptor Cristina Iglesias (San Sebastián, 1956), one of the leading voices in international contemporary sculpture.
Curated by James Lingwood and produced in close collaboration with the artist, the exhibition will run at La Pedrera until 25 January 2026. It brings together over thirty works created in the past three decades, establishing a unique dialogue with Antoni Gaudí’s organic, flowing architecture.
With a sculptural language that is entirely her own, Cristina Iglesias creates immersive environments that bring together architecture, engineering, literature and natural elements. Her installations include suspended pavilions, lattice screens, corridors, labyrinths and walls inscribed with texts, as well as graphic works and drawings on a wide range of materials. Many of her works evoke the memory of landscapes, allude to geology and the subterranean and invite visitors to physically move through them – to feel their texture, perspective and sculptural weight – creating an intimate exchange between artwork and viewer.
“My work seeks to create spaces where people can lose themselves and find themselves at the same time – to experience time and place in a different way,” explains Cristina Iglesias.
A poetic and sensory journey
Designed specifically for the distinctive spaces of La Pedrera, the exhibition does not follow a chronological path but instead unfolds as a fluid, circular structure that echoes the movement and curves of the building itself. Like a symphony composed of multiple movements, the exhibition invites visitors to pass through a sequence of spaces, each one offering a different sensory and conceptual experience.
Visitors are immersed in large-scale sculptures that are not only to be viewed but physically experienced – walking through them, feeling their weight, volume and textures.
“Passatges” is not just a succession of works, but a unified experience – a complete artwork that offers the public a new way of engaging with Cristina Iglesias’ creative and personal vision.
For this exhibition, the artist has created a site-specific piece for the main floor of La Pedrera: Bosque mineral (2025), as well as an adaptation of Vers la terre (Variation II) (2011) for the Passeig de Gràcia courtyard, welcoming visitors as they enter Casa Milà.
The exhibition features works from private collections and from major institutions such as MACBA. Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art – and the Contemporary Art Collection of the ”la Caixa” Foundation.
Cristina Iglesias has exhibited at leading institutions including the Guggenheim Museum in New York, the Museo Reina Sofía in Madrid, the Whitechapel Gallery in London and the Musée de Grenoble. Her work is held in major public and private collections. She has represented Spain twice at the Venice Biennale and has participated in major international events such as the biennials of Sydney, Taipei and Santa Fe, as well as the Carnegie International in Pittsburgh.
An international career
Over the past two decades, Iglesias has created permanent installations around the world, including Tres aguas in Toledo, Forgotten Streams at Bloomberg’s headquarters in London, Inner Landscape at the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston and Hondalea, in the lighthouse on Santa Clara Island in San Sebastián – one of her most emblematic works.
Throughout her career, the Basque artist has received numerous honours, including the Spanish National Visual Arts Prize (1999), the Großer Kunstpreis in Berlin (2012), the Spanish National Graphic Arts Prize (2019), the Royal Academy Architecture Prize in London (2020) and the Sorolla Medal awarded by the Hispanic Society of America, based in New York (2024).
Following the opening at La Pedrera, Iglesias is scheduled to exhibit in London and, in 2026, in New York City. She is currently working on permanent public installations in Sweden and Denmark, as well as another piece in Chicago. Looking ahead, a major exhibition featuring both new and earlier works is planned for Paris in 2027.
Fundació Catalunya La Pedrera
Fundació Catalunya La Pedrera is committed to promoting art and culture through a carefully curated programme of exhibitions, reaffirming one of its core missions: to serve as a cultural catalyst for society. As part of its exhibitions at La Pedrera, the Foundation also develops original in-house audiovisual projects.
For “Cristina Iglesias. Passatges”, filmmaker David Trueba offers an intimate portrait of one of the most prominent international sculptors working today. The documentary Cristina Iglesias. D’arrel i d’ombra takes viewers inside the artist’s studio, where she is seen working
on recent pieces and reflecting on her artistic journey. The film also documents the preparation of the exhibition at La Pedrera, featuring conversations with Iglesias that shed light on the process of staging a show in such a symbolic space as the main floor of Gaudí’s iconic building. The documentary will première on 28 October at 7:00 pm in the La Pedrera Auditorium, followed by a conversation between David Trueba and Cristina Iglesias.
To broaden the scope of the exhibition and open it up to new perspectives, the Foundation – in collaboration with various cultural institutions – has created a series of parallel events that explore connections with other artistic disciplines. These include a talk by the artist on 15 December at La Pedrera, a concert by GIO Symphonia at the Palau de la Música Catalana on 9 October and a performance by Quartet Cosmos at the Foyer of the Gran Teatre del Liceu on 11 November.
Fundació Catalunya La Pedrera
Lluïsa Oller
Comunicació Fundació Catalunya La Pedrera
638 44 94 69
premsa@fcatalunyalapedrera.com