Laia Estruch (Barcelona, 1981), who lives and works in her hometown, earned a Degree in Fine Arts by the University of Barcelona. She is a final year undergraduate student at The Cooper Union University (New York, 2010).
Voice and body are the backbone of Laia Estruch’s research, an artistic practice straddling action and sculpture. This artist understands voice as an extension of the body, capable of synthesising questions related to language, speech, gender and social structures. In her recent work she has researched how urban spaces and their physical structure play an important role in day-to-day life. Through the use of the “spoken word”, songs, objects and publications, her projects analyse the emotional possibilities of a cappella voice and non-dramatized body, opening a space to reflect on the performative nature of language, sound recordings and her oral archive. She designs sculptural sets conceived as scenes and experimental spaces, which enable her to take body and word to the area of action via voice, sound and gestures.
She has received the following awards: “Ciutat de Barcelona 2021”, “Cervezas Alhambra 2022” and “Núvol journal Premis Galeries 2019”.
Among other places, her projects have been presented at: Macba, Barcelona (2012 & 2022), Antoni Tàpies Foundation, Barcelona (2014), Párraga Centre, Murcia (2016), Teatro Pradillo, Madrid (2016), Antic Teatre, Barcelona (2016), Chapelle des the Beaux-Arts, París (2017), CA2M, Madrid (2017), Museo Picasso, Barcelona (2018), Fundación Botí, Córdoba (2018), CentroCentro, Madrid (2019), Fundación Joan Miró, Espai13, Barcelona (2019), Cultural Center of Spain in Mexico CCEMx (2020) Mexico City, Sâlmon Festival, Barcelona (2020), Festival Poesia i + a Caldes d’Estrac (2020), Festival Grec / Creació i Museus (2020), Fundació Joan Brossa, Barcelona (2020/21), La Virreina Centre de la imatge, Barcelona (2020), Galería Heinrich Ehrhardt, Madrid (2021 y 2022), “Festival Embarrat”, Museu Trepat de Tàrrega (2021), “Festival Plataforma 2021”, Centro Gallego de Arte Contemporáneo (CGAC), Santiago de Compostela, Galícia (2021), Festival “Domingo”, La Casa Encendida, Madrid (2021), PUBLICS (2022), Helsinki, ARCO Fair, Madrid (2022), Centro de Arte La Panera (2022), Lleida, in the Thyssen Bornemisza Collection TBA21 at C3A Centro de Creación Contemporánea de Andalucía, Córdoba (2022).
She has been collaborating with the Macba educational programme since 2016 and has taken part in “En Residencia. Creadores en los institutos de Barcelona” (2016) programme. She teaches at the EINA University School of Design and Art, Barcelona (2022-2023).
Her works are present in private and public collections, such as Banco Sabadell collection, Palau i Fabre de Caldes de Estrac Foundation Art Centre collection, and the Fine Arts University of Barcelona Prim collection. They are also part of Barcelona city Public Heritage as a result of the donation of the “Playground Scene” sculpture installed in the Fabra i Coats Contemporary Art Centre.
