Cristina de Miguel

Through painting, Cristina de Miguel (b. 1987, Sevilla, Spain) examines how freedom is felt, resisted, and embodied. Her practice centers on the physical and emotional experiences of the body, with particular attention to queer bodies that exist outside dominant social frameworks.

Working through distortion, fragmentation, and alternative assemblies, she constructs semi-autobiographical figures that function as both self-portraits and meditations on women’s subjectivity. De Miguel’s figurative paintings draw on art historical references, mythological allusions, and energetic brushwork, while simultaneously challenging technical convention. By prioritizing the materiality of paint, she allows the act of painting to remain visible, often breaking the figure apart so process becomes central. Her works sustain a productive tension between opposites, with figures that appear both dignified and debased and palettes that are vibrant yet discordant. Fluid, melting forms generate a psychomatic effect, linking physical sensation, emotion, and metaphor, and foregrounding painterly expression over narrative resolution.

Born in Seville, Spain
Lives and works in Brooklyn, NY


EDUCATION 

2012 Master in Fine Arts. Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY
2010 Bachelor in Fine Arts. University of Seville, Spain


SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2025
Perras, V1 Gallery, Copenhagen,
DK

 2024
Dissolving, Almine Rech Gallery,
London, UK

2023
About Last Night, V1 Gallery, Copenhagen, Denmark
El Caer y el Viento, Villa Magdalena, San Sebastian, Spain

2022
Gente Cayendo del Cielo, L21 Gallery, Mallorca, Spain
Wheels, Flying Bodies, and Other Stories, Fredericks & Freiser, New York, NY

2021
Procession Paintings, Tennis Elbow at The Journal Gallery, New York, NY
Paintings of Through and Fell, Allouche Benias Gallery, Athens, Greece

2020
Life in its Poetic Form, Fredericks & Freiser Gallery, New York, NY

2019
New Paintings, Fredericks & Freiser Gallery, New York, NY

2018
New Paintings, Fredericks &
Freiser Gallery, New York, NY

GROUP EXHIBITIONS 

2024
Fortune Teller, V1 Gallery, Copenhagen, DK
Social Practice, Amanita Gallery New York, NY, USA

2023
Cristina de Miguel & Jenny Brosinski, Almine Rech Gallery, NY
The Echo of Picasso, Almine Rech, New York, NY, USA & Picasso Museum, Malaga, ES

2022
V1 XX – Twenty Years of V1 Gallery, V1 Gallery, Copenhagen, Denmark
Reflections: Partly Fiction, Curated by Matt White, Woaw Gallery, Hong Kong, China
I do my own stunts, Curated by Jack Siebert and Caio Twombly", Amanita, Los Angeles, CA

2021
Walking, Running, Falling, L21 Gallery, Mallorca, Spain
Bad Girls, Wallspaceplease, Dubai
Summer Sun, Van de Weghe Gallery, East Hampton, NY
Humans, Deli Grocery, New York, NY
I have an idea!, 1969 Gallery, New York, NY

2020
Darkened by the Smoke of Candles,
Sim Smith Gallery, London, UK
The Auguries of Innocence, Fredericks & Freiser, New York, NY
Nine to Know, Ruttkowsky; 68, Paris, France

2019
Aullidos, Galeria Herrero de Tejada. Madrid, Spain

2017
Four Artists, Fredericks & Freiser Gallery, New York, NY

2016
De la pintura, el Sur, MAD Antequera Museum, Malaga, Spain
 

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

2022
Jose Luis Gonzalez, Revista AD, "Así es Cristina de Miguel, la artista española que causa furor en Estados Unidos"

2019
Vogel, Maria. Art of Choice, “Cristina de Miguel Discovers New Dimensions Through Paint”

2016
Abrams, Loney. ARTSPACE, “How to Nail the Studio Visit: Expert Advice on What Artists Should Do (and Not Do) to Make an Impression”

2015
Gleeson, Bridget. ARTSY, "A Spanish Artist Captures New York in Spontaneous Sketches and Whimsical Gifs"

2014
Indrisek, Scott. ARTINFO, "Cristina de Miguel Forges Her Own Scrappy Path"

2013
NY Arts Magazine. In conversation: Cristina de Miguel interviewed by Florian Meisenberg

RESIDENCIES / AWARDS

2013
Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Skowhegan, ME