Miralda (1942, Terrassa, Spain) is a multidisciplinary artist most known for his sculptures, drawings, films, photographs and public art installations. His early works were largely inspired by his experience as a conscripted soldier in the Spanish military and consisted of sculptures and drawings featuring toy soldiers.
Since 1962, a majority of his works have been centered around food. Miralda began creating, in collaborative efforts with other artists, such as the Traiteur-Colorists group and artist Dorothée Selz, “food sculptures” that were made of food and other organic materials and spoke to popular culture and the culture of food within different societies.
These works gained popularity and Miralda’s small, public food demonstrations became large public spectacles surrounding food, rituals and color. In 1971, Miralda moved to the United States and has since been creating art installations between Europe and the U.S. In 1979, he was a fellow for advanced Visual Studies at M.I.T.
For Frieze New York 2026, Champ Lacombe presents works connected to two of Miralda’s seminal projects:
El Internacional (1984 - 1986)
El Internacional was an experimental art and culinary project conceived by Miralda and chef Montse Guillén in the Tribeca neighbourhood of New York City.
Opened in 1984, the space functioned not merely as a restaurant but as a living artwork and social experiment in which food, design, architecture, performance and daily life were integrated into a unified experience.
Honeymoon Project (1986 - 1992)
To celebrate the marriage of two monuments on either side of the Atlantic - New York’s Statue of Liberty and the Columbus monument in Barcelona - Miralda created a series of objects and ceremonies that were presented over a period of six years in various cities. In this project, Miralda was playing with the confrontation-attraction of two opposite poles, one symbolizing conquest and the other symbolizing freedom.
The artist is now based between Miami and Barcelona. Miralda’s works have been shown at the Institute of Contemporary Arts, London (1966); Musée d’Art Moderne, Paris (1969); Museum of Contemporary Crafts, New York (1972); Centre Pompidou, Paris (1975); Documenta 6, Kassel (1977); Palazzo Grassi, Venice (1978); Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City (1981); Museo del Barrio, New York (1984); Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona (1988); 44th Venice Biennial, Spanish Pavilion (1990); Philadelphia Museum of Art (1990); Fundació la Caixa, Barcelona (1995); Institut Valencià d’Art Modern, Valencia, Spain (1996); Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona (1996 and 2016); Museo de Bellas Artes de Caracas (2004); 27th Bienal de São Paulo (2006); Artium, Vitoria Gasteiz (2008); Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid (2010); among others. He is represented in the collections of the Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona; the Collection Centre National des Arts Plastiques - Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication, Paris; the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid; Artium, Vitoria Gasteiz; the Pérez Art Museum, Miami; the Whitney Museum and more.
