Laia Estruch (Barcelona 1981) holds a Degree in Fine Arts from the University of Barcelona (2010). She studied Performance Art and Sonor Art at The Cooper Union University (New York, 2010).
Her artistic practice is inscribed within the framework of performance and sculpture where she works with the language of the body and the voice. Using spoken word, song, objects and publications, her projects analyse the emotive possibilities of the a cappella voice and the body without theatricalisation, opening up a space for reflection on the performative nature of language, sound recording and its oral archive. She designs sculptural sets conceived as scenes, spaces of sound experimentation, which allow him to bring the body and the word into the realm of action through the voice. Therefore, one of the main characteristics of her work is based on exploring the scores in the physical realm of the stage.
She has received the Ciutat de Barcelona Visual Arts Award 2021 and the Cervezas Alhambra Award (ARCO Fair 2022).
She has received grants, awards and residencies such as Nau Estruch in Sabadell (2010), BCN Producció (2011), Sala d'Art Jove de la Generalitat de Catalunya (2011), BCN Producció (2012), La FraguaThe Forge Art Residency in Córdoba (2014) and Artists in Residence 2017 at La Casa Encendida and CA2M in Madrid and the Premis Barcelona 2020 grant.
She has presented performances at the Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona MACBA (2012 and 2021), at the Centre d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona Fabra i Coats (2012), at the La Villarroel theatre in Barcelona (2013), at the Fundació Antoni Tàpies in Barcelona (2014), at the ADN gallery in Barcelona (2015), at the Fundació Joan Miró in Barcelona (2016), at the Centro Párraga in Murcia (2016), at the Teatro Pradillo in Madrid (2016), at the Antic Teatre in Barcelona (2016), at the Museu Picasso in Barcelona (2018), at the Espai 13 of the Fundació Joan Miró in Barcelona (2019), Festival Sâlmon d'arts vives de Barcelona (2020), Festival Poesia i + a Caldes d'Estrac (2020), Festival Grec / Creació i Museus (2020), Fundació Joan Brossa de Barcelona (2020), La Virreina Centre de la Imatge de Barcelona (2020), La Panera de Lleida (2022), Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary - TBA21 in Madrid and Córdoba (2022), Fundación Sandretto in Madrid (2022), galeria Ehrhardt-Flórez, Madrid (2022), Fundación Cerezales Antonino y Cinia, León (2022), among others.
She has been collaborating in MACBA's educational programme since 2016. She has participated in the 8th edition of the programme En Residència, Creadors en els instituts de Barcelona, (2016-2017). Her work is present in private and public collections such as the Banc Sabadell collection, the collection of the Centre d'Art Fundació Palau i Fabre in Caldes d'Estrac, the Patrim collection of the Universitat de Belles Arts de Barcelona, and is part of the Patrimoni Públic of the city of Barcelona with the donation of the sculpture 'Playground Scene' installed at the Centre d'Art Contemporani Fabra i Coats.