It is no secret that I love Barcelona. As a contemporary art lover, and lover of every city overlooking a body of water of any sort, it makes absolutely sense that I love the Catalan capital. Barcelona is a thrilling city, that offers endless possibilities, whether you like art, architecture, culture, outdoor activities, shopping, or food. With its almost perfect location, great weather year-round, and friendly population, it is among the best destinations in Europe and in the world for travelers.
Known for its rich history and vibrant culture, Barcelona has also emerged as a thriving hub for contemporary art. With its unique blend of tradition and innovation, the city has become home to a plethora of outstanding contemporary art galleries, that showcase the work of local and international artists. And with the SWAB art fair coming up next week, which I will be attending myself, it is about time to dive a little deeper into the city’s gallery scene.
Barcelona’s contemporary art scene is a testament to the city’s embrace of artistic innovation and creativity. In this article, we’ll explore five of my favorite contemporary art galleries in Barcelona that offer a captivating journey through the world of contemporary artistic expression. Whether you’re an art connoisseur or a casual admirer, exploring these galleries will undoubtedly provide you with a captivating journey through the world of contemporary art in this vibrant city.
And if you want to explore even more galleries, my advice is to check the very useful website of Art Barcelona, an association gathering some of the most prominent art galleries in the city, promoting joint activities of galleries devoted to discovering, diffusing, and protecting contemporary art.
So, without any further ado, here are my 5 favorite contemporary art galleries in Barcelona.
ADN Galeria
Located in the Eixample area, ADN Galeria is one of the most prominent galleries in Spain. Founded as a hybrid platform between commercial mediation and cultural contribution, the gallery’s program focuses on content-based productions, encouraging its artists to build international networks of appreciation and to make possible a strong backing for their careers. Therefore, the gallery hosts well-curated exhibitions, that you could easily see in a museum, featuring established artists both Spanish and international. Moreover, the gallery also promotes the ADN Locker Room, a multipurpose space located on the first floor of the main gallery, where they organize screening projects, panel discussions, and more intimate exhibitions, and ADN Platform, a program of activities fostering the exchanges between the gallery itself and outside contributors.
ADN Galeria
Mallorca 205, 08008 – Barcelona
More info: www.adngaleria.com
Galería Carles Taché
Founded in 1986, Galería Carles Taché stands out as one of the most long-lived galleries in the city. Located on the slopes of Montjuïc, an area rich in museums and cultural attractions, this gallery represents an array of both emerging and established artists. It features a diverse range of artistic mediums, including painting, photography, sculpture, and new media. Galería Carles Taché is also very active on the international scene, participating in several important art fairs, representing both Spanish and international artists. Known for its commitment to fostering a dialogue between artists, collectors, and the public, the gallery is an essential space for engaging with contemporary art in Barcelona.
Galería Carles Taché
Mèxic, 19., 08004 – Barcelona
More info: www.carlestache.com
Galeria Joan Prats
Galeria Joan Prats is a real institution in Barcelona. Since its opening in 1976, it has been one of the pioneering galleries on the international contemporary scene, exhibiting and promoting the work of local and international artists. The gallery is committed to disseminating and facilitating the reading of the different languages with which its artists work, contributing, at the same time, to the realization of specific projects. In its minimal space located near Plaça de Catalunya, the gallery presents artists working across different mediums, from painting and sculpture to video and installations, showcasing well-curated exhibitions.
Galeria Joan Prats
Balmes, 54, 08007 – Barcelona
More info: www.galeriajoanprats.com
RocioSantaCruz
The RocioSantaCruz Gallery is a dynamic space for creation and contemporary thought in all its manifestations. Located in the heart of Barcelona with more than 300 m2, the space hosts projects by both established artists and emerging talents.
True to her career since 1994 in Paris, as an art book publisher, RocioSantaCruz’s approach is to focus on unpublished archives with the aim of generating a dialogue between the avant-garde of the second half of the twentieth century and the new contemporary practices.
The gallery is conceived as a space for experimentation, a meeting point for reflection, and a space for the dissemination of new practices with a special interest in photography, experimental cinema, archiving, and publishing of artists.
Inside the gallery, you can also find the ArtsLibris bookstore, where you can find artists’ books and magazines dedicated to contemporary art and practices from around the globe.
RocioSantaCruz
Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes, 627, 08010 – Barcelona
More info: www.rociosantacruz.com
Suburbia Contemporary
On a much younger side, the last gallery on this list is Suburbia Contemporary. Originally founded in 2017 in Granada, the gallery is now based in Barcelona, just a few blocks away from Casa Batlló. Suburbia Contemporary presents points of radical similarity between different material cultures and artistic traditions from across the globe. Born with the imperative of gathering artists from a variety of cultural backgrounds and geographical locations within a single cluster, the gallery launched Satellite spaces in Cape Town (2019) and Florence (2020), structuring contact between the East, West, North, and South through a consistently evolving, critically engaged exhibition program open to antique and traditional knowledge systems, secret, hidden languages and future definitions of artistic practice.
Suburbia Contemporary
Valencia 345 08009 Barcelona
More info: www.suburbiacontemporary.com
Cover image by Christian Holzinger on Unsplash
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