Isabel Merchante

Contemporary Art Practice (MA)

About

Isabel Merchante (b. 1999) is a Spanish visual artist working between London and Madrid. Her practice draws inspiration from observations of space and specific materials, valuing intuition to access knowledge beyond the explicit and imagination as a tool to expand reality. She materializes her projects as site-specific installations—using light as a conceptual medium—sculptures, performances, and photographic series that propose speculative narratives and new ways of perceiving. Her works are often experienced within limited time frames or in remote places, creating illusions, singularities, or windows to other worlds.

Embracing dialogue with non-artistic disciplines such as theoretical physics, computer science, and mathematics, Isabel’s work examines the anthropological transcendence of progress and current technological advancements. At the moment, exploring the encounter between humans and artificial intelligence, she speculates on its philosophical implications, social consequences, and uncertain potential, developing projects that highlight what algorithms can’t grasp, such as emotion, contemplation, or spirituality.

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Isabel graduated in Fine Arts and Design from Universidad Francisco de Vitoria, Madrid, and holds an MA in Contemporary Art Practice from the Royal College of Art, London. She now continues her studies in the MFA Computational Arts at Goldsmiths, supported by “la Caixa” Foundation.

Solo exhibitions include H+E at Cidade da Cultura de Galicia (2024);  Harmony at MARTE, Castellón (2022); and Refuge of Lights at Xenius Library, Madrid (2022). Group exhibitions include Future Archaeologies at Camden Art Centre, London (2024); Sonic Disruption at TATE Modern, London (2024); Move Fast and Break Things at Círculo de Bellas Artes in Madrid (2023); Visages at the CAMT, Morocco (2022); This Space Does Not Exist at Matadero, Madrid (2021); and Postatlántico at Galería Nueva, Madrid, and Galería 12:00, Bogotá (2020).

Awards and prizes include Prize Generación 2025, La Casa Encendida, Fundación Montemadrid (2024), Hejduk Towers Commission Prize, Cidade da Cultura de Galicia (2024); XXXIV Circuitos de Artes Plásticas Comunidad de Madrid (2023); and Annual Award in Visual Arts, We:Now International Youth Art Festival (2023). Art Residencies include LEA (Lab of Experimental Art), Madrid (2023); Encontro Artistas Novos, A Coruña (2023); Areté Lanzarote, Lanzarote (2023); and Fundación Silos, Burgos (2023).

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