Fina Miralles, National Prize for Plastic Arts 2025

Fina Miralles, born in Sabadell in 1950, has been awarded the National Prize for Plastic Arts 2025, as proposed by the jury convened this Monday. The prize, granted by the Ministry of Culture, is endowed with 30,000 euros.

The jury praised the artist for "her pioneering role since the 1970s within the framework of feminism and early ecological stances, advocating for the relationship between humans and nature."

Additionally, the jury noted that "her work possesses a powerful iconicity that extends its relevance to the present. She conducts a sharp critical reflection on power in all its aspects. In recent years, she has undertaken a profound textual reflection addressing the human experience from a holistic perspective."

The prize in its previous edition was awarded to Pedro G. Romero, joining a long list of laureates, including Teresa Lanceta, Rogelio López Cuenca, Dora García, José María Yturralde, Àngels Ribé, Ángel Bados, Ángela de la Cruz, and Juan Hidalgo, among others.

Fina Miralles is a pioneering artist in conceptual practices, which she began experimenting with in the 1970s. Trained in Barcelona, she spent long periods in South America, France, and Italy. Her artistic practice is often linked to 'land art' and the relationships between body and nature. Her actions also address political critique and patriarchal structures.

Among her early works are 'Natura morta' (1972), 'Dona-arbre' (1973), and 'Relació del cos amb elements naturals en accions quotidianes' (1975). During this period, she was associated with emblematic spaces of the Catalan avant-garde such as Sala Vinçon, Sala Tres, and Espai 13 of the Fundació Joan Miró.

From the 1980s onwards, she explored the material through the use of painting and drawing. Projects like 'Doble horitzó' (1979-1981) demonstrate the symbiosis between performative and pictorial practice. This path led her to progressively more introspective creation.

With the turn of the century, she retired to Cadaqués, where she continued working on what are known as 'photoactions'. Among her most notable exhibitions and interventions are 'De les idees a la vida' (Museu de Sabadell, 2001), the 'Nadala' at the Fundació Joan Miró in Barcelona (2014), 'Naturaleses naturals 1973-2016' (National Archaeological Museum, 2016), and 'Soc totes les que he sigut' (Macba, 2020).

Fina Miralles' work is present in the collections of the Museu d'Art de Sabadell, the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía in Madrid, and the Macba in Barcelona. In 2018, she was awarded the Premi Nacional d'Arts Visuals, granted by the Consell Nacional de la Cultura i de les Arts of the Generalitat de Catalunya.

The jury was chaired by Ángeles Albert, Director General of Cultural Heritage and Fine Arts, with Jesús María Carrillo, Deputy Director General of Visual Arts and Contemporary Creation, acting as vice president. The jury was composed of the following members: Pedro G. Romero, National Prize for Plastic Arts 2024; Immaculada Prieto Carrillo, Director of the Museu Tàpies; Alfredo Puente Alonso, curator of the Fundación Cerezales Antonino y Cinia; Beatriz Herráez Diéguez, Director of the Museum of Contemporary Art of the Basque Country-Artium Museoa; Norberto Dotor Pérez, gallerist; Julia Ramírez Blanco, Ramón y Cajal researcher at the Department of Art History at the Complutense University of Madrid; Juan Vicente Aliaga Espert, professor at the Faculty of Fine Arts of the Polytechnic University of Valencia; and Esther Regueira Mauriz, independent curator and producer, proposed by Women in the Visual Arts.