LLUÍS HORTALÀ was born in Olot (Girona), a city in Northeast Catalonia, close to the pyrenees and near France. Although self-taught, he studied at the Sant Jordi Fine Arts School, in Barcelona, 1977 -78.

 

His “Opac” exhibition displayed in 1991 at the Moncada space of Barcelona “La caixa Foundation”, marked the beginning of the series of works known as “topographies of sight”, circular-shaped wall sculptures of polyester-covered wood. Then came other works related to architecture and later, to the structures of the body. In the meantime, he also started experimenting with ceramics. 

 

Between 1995 and 2001 he lived and worked in London, at Delfina Studio residence, where he gained appreciation for the subjects of landscape, light installation, drawings and sculptures. He started to work on pieces which captured and reflected his own experiences as a mountain-climber as a critical metaphor of artists' ambition to climb the social art scene and implement their ideas. This series of works lasted until 2013. 

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Afterwards, in 2014/15, he attended the Academy Van Der Kelen, in Brussels, to study ancient painting, marbles  and wood imitation based on the techniques of trompe l’oeil. This allowed him to break away from past works and upgrade to a completely new series where he expresses his own criticism towards the overthrowing power held by influential 19th century museums on the subjects of history, architecture and art.  

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Lluis Hortalà has exhibited at various museums including; MNCARS  (Madrid), La Fundaçao Gulbenkian (Lisboa), Atrium  (Vitoria), and “Le carrée”  (Nimes) among others. He also has permanent works in important collections and museums.