Diana Larrea, Idealista Prize for Contemporary Art 2024

• “Urban Interventions: Madrid” is the award-winning project of the Madrid artist who intervenes in public spaces in the city of Madrid

Madrid-based artist Diana Larrea , renowned for her exploration of urban spaces, has been awarded the 2024 idealista Contemporary Art Prize . Her project “Urban Interventions: Madrid” has been selected for its visual impact and its ability to provoke reflections on the city’s public spaces.

The exhibition, curated by Elisa Hernando and coordinated by Arte Global, presents a series of video art works and documentary photographs of Larrea's interventions in different parts of Madrid. The artistic proposal is made up of three projects: “Public Case: Intruders”

It challenges the perception of space by placing human barriers in the middle of the street, forcing pedestrians to adapt (and modify their route) in unexpected situations.

“Public Case: Blue Zone”, where the artist transforms urban space by covering parked vehicles with blue covers, thus questioning the aesthetic order of the city.

“Distinguished Streets” where the abandonment of the Madrid neighborhood of Lavapiés is highlighted by installing plaques that highlight the indifference of the municipal authorities in these streets.

And finally, “Let´s fall in LOVE!” is an urban intervention located on the elevated viaduct built over Calle Segovia in Madrid, which is known for being one of the traditional places chosen by Madrid suicide bombers to jump into the void. Larrea proposes a simple wordplay in a mocking tone to refer to that feeling of free fall implicit in every love.

Diana Larrea's artistic proposal maintains a personal commitment to certain symbolic conflicts, both contemporary and from the historical past, creating reflections in citizens regarding public spaces.

The idealista Contemporary Art Award is an initiative of the leading real estate marketplace in Spain, Italy and Portugal with which the company wants to recognize the talent and vision of young creators and seeks to promote and support contemporary artistic production. In its first edition, 2018, the award went to the Basque artist Ismael Iglesias (Durango, 1974), with the work "Streetfighter"; the second, in 2019, was won by the Huesca artist David Latorre (Huesca, 1973) with his project "Arquitectura, Cuerpo e Indumentaria"; in 2020 there was no call for entries due to the pandemic and in 2021 the award went to Jorge Yeregui (Santander, 1975) for "Communities". Cuban artist Hamlet Lavastida (Havana, 1983) was awarded the idealista prize in 2022. And in the 2023 edition, the winner was Mónica de Miranda (Oporto, 1976) for her project “South Circular”.

Why the Idealist Prize

idealista has been supporting national and international artists for years and promoting the artistic production of contemporary art by acquiring works of art that reflect the impact of “urbanism” on people’s lives. Its collection includes pieces by authors such as Panos Kokkinias (Athens, Greece, 1965), Teresa Margolles (Culiacán, Mexico, 1963), Maider López (San Sebastián, Spain, 1975), Olaf Breuning (Schaffhausen, Switzerland, 1970) and Massimo Vitali (Como, Italy, 1944). The works are part of an itinerant route between the company’s offices in Barcelona, ​​Lisbon, Madrid, Málaga and Milan. For the creation of the “idealista Award”, and the coordination of the award in future editions, idealista has selected Elisa Hernando, director of Arte Global, who has curated the intervention by Mónica de Miranda at SIMA Madrid.

About Global Art

Arte Global is an international art consultancy dedicated to art collecting and cultural management projects for institutions, companies and individuals. Founded in 2003 by Elisa Hernando, Arte Global has reference clients such as Uría Menéndez Abogados, Fundación Banco Santander, ARCOmadrid, Repsol, idealista, among others.

About Diana Larrea

Diana Larrea (Madrid, 1972) has exhibited in institutions and museums such as the Museu Nacional do Conjunto Cultural da República (Brazil), the National Centre of Contemporary Art in Moscow (Russia), the Kunsthall Charlottenborg in Copenhagen (Denmark), the Espai 13 of the Fundació Joan Miró in Barcelona and the EACC Espai d'Art Contemporani in Castelló, among others. She is currently represented by the Espacio Mínimo Gallery (Madrid).

His works

We invite you to see some of Diana Larrea's works .