Maria Costafreda leads the Fuga gallery project, on Lluís el Piadós street (Trafalgar area), which since 2023 aims to give a voice to artists who represent political struggles and contemporary discontents. It opened by bearing witness to the Iranian problem with the artist Shirin Salehi, and since then it maintains an activity for which it denounces great difficulties. To begin with, the great divorce between Barcelona and contemporary art. Without anyone apparently realizing that this is divorcing from contemporaneity entirely.
— Maria: who are you, and what do you do in Barcelona?
— I am Maria Costafreda, I was born in Barcelona and for two years I have been running a gallery here, called Fuga. It is a project committed to political struggles, because we believe that in a polarized world it is essential to maintain the political notion within the cultural sphere. We want to foster critical thinking, shake it up and promote it.
— Is art politics, then?
— If contemporary art represents the present, we must show the sociocultural dimension of art. Otherwise, we contribute to the spectacularization of culture. Culture is political. What is exhibited and also what is not.
— Therefore, do you flee from the mainstream?
— Fuga wants to be the umbrella that shelters alternative struggles that have no place within the status quo. We consider it crucial, ethical and moral to address these struggles, if one wants to be a reflection of the present.
— Therefore, it is a young project. And where do you come from? How did you get here?
— Before, I had my own gallery, and I was working in some galleries. But I decided to create my own space. I opened one at 27, which bore my name: “Maria Costafreda ART Management” (MCAM). I opened in Poblenou, I was there for a few months, and then I went to Mallorca street, between Aribau and Enric Granados, on a main floor. That was ten years ago, before closing for maternity leave and then opening Fuga here, within the Trafalgar axis, in 2023.
— What was that previous project like?
— Surely the first gallery was more plastic, although we also featured very contemporary artists, like Margarita Andreu (the first retrospective, in fact). But this second project, which is Fuga, above all wants to shake up critical thinking a little. In fact, we opened on November 16, 2023, with a proposal by the Iranian artist Shirin Salehi, exiled between Madrid and New York: it was a feminist exhibition, which mainly dealt with the pain and trauma of Iranian women.
"In Catalonia, in Barcelona, the market is practically non-existent. The collector, the buyer, is always abroad"
— The area: Trafalgar. It's not Consell de Cent, but it also has a lot of relevance at a gallery level, right?
— Its gallery history is more recent, almost a decade old. I, in fact, live in Plaça Sant Pere and I was seeing how galleries were landing towards Trafalgar, and this was becoming an area with more importance at this level.
— Bravery? Everyone talks about a complicated gallery landscape. Is it exaggerated?
—It's justified, because really in Catalonia, in Barcelona, the market is practically non-existent. The collector, the buyer, is always abroad. Through Madrid there is ARCO, which is one of the most important European fairs, and that brings more movement. But if you refer to Barcelona or Catalonia…
"Contemporary art is not understood, there is no intention to understand it, and there is no will"
— I am referring to Barcelona, yes. And ARCO is still a wound. The city of Miró, of Picasso, of Tàpies, has not maintained a strong gallery tradition.
— The collecting tradition practically no longer exists. But, furthermore, there is no understanding of contemporary art. One only needs to look at the number of visitors to MACBA. Contemporary art is not understood, there is no intention to understand it, and there is no will. And we are exposed to the digitalization of art. There are some sparks at Espai 13 of the Miró Foundation, or things they do at Tàpies ---spaces that are born from the legacy of avant-garde artists, but that also do contemporary art---, but in general this art is not understood, it is not valued, and there is no interest. Between this and that we are moving towards digital experiences at Ideal, the immersive experience at Casa Batlló, etcetera, the gallery tradition and collecting are being lost.
— Therefore, the problem is not that contemporary art is too complicated?
— Clearly, no. It's that there's no interest. Miró and Picasso were contemporary in their time, and, in contrast, there was interest. We have conformed, we live off our past achievements, we have concentrated on what we did, there is a lack of interest in going further.
— And despite all this, you go and open a gallery of committed contemporary art. Are you looking for foreign buyers?
— Well, yes, because selling here is very difficult. The Catalan collector I have found is very specific, often decorative. Collections that respond more to aesthetic criteria than conceptual ones.
"Miró and Picasso were contemporary in their time, and, in contrast, there was interest. We have conformed, we live off our past achievements, we have concentrated on what we did"
—And the role of institutions?
— They should promote contemporary art more. MACBA and MNAC already do contemporary art, but other institutions could do more. The Thyssen, for example, now when it opens. Right now, I would highlight the work they do at La Virreina. Barcelona has preferred to excel in performing arts, music, publishing... in that we are contemporary, in art, we are not.
— And now, what are you doing at the gallery?
— We have a program with short exhibitions, called Entreactes, lasting between three weeks and a month, designed to exhibit emerging artists. We are currently showing an exhibition by Krystel Liliana, made from wax (which refers to fire) as a working material, evoking her childhood memories. In this case, however, she wanted to bring the wax towards water, based on a swimming pool from her childhood. It will be there until early April.
— And then?
— Then we go to Milan, to the fair where we have been invited. It is for galleries with very specific contemporary proposals and with a short trajectory. In Barcelona, there isn't much competition either, many galleries work more with established artists. In safe territory.
"A biennial doesn't solve anything. The issue is fundamental. Education. Re-educate. From school, media, institutions... If contemporary art is not understood, in the end, it's not interesting"
— And your bet is different.
— To dare, to advance, to shake up thought. We work with international artists who live here and talk to us about values, injustices, racism, the diaspora…
— And how is the fight for reduced VAT on art going?
— We have the highest VAT in Europe. It's a serious problem. The Ministry of Culture tells us they agree, but then they tell us it's a matter for the Treasury, and then the Treasury says they haven't been told anything. It's a total blockage.
— Does this affect you much?
— Well, a lot. It makes everything here less competitive than abroad.
"The artist does not limit themselves to representing reality; they question it, deform it, and propose new readings of it"
— To finish: what would you recommend to reconcile Barcelona with contemporary art? Should we do a biennial, for example?
— Has Manifesta gone well?
— What?
— That a biennial doesn't solve anything. The issue is fundamental. Education. Re-educate. From school, media, institutions... If contemporary art is not understood, in the end, it's not interesting. They have to do as the Liceu has done, bring their world closer to that of contemporary art, with naturalness and dissemination.
— Do other cities also have our problem?
— No. Paris doesn't have it. London doesn't have it. But Madrid doesn't have it! Madrid is much more alive in contemporary art. There is interest, movement, programming...
— So it's not just money.
—No. It's thought. It's interest. It's wanting to live in the contemporary world.
Questionnaire
— A contemporary art fair?
— Liste Art Fair, in Basel.
— An emerging artist we should know?
— Ali Arévalo.
— And an artist you do have in the gallery?
— Caterina Miralles Tagliabue.
— A work you would like to have at home?
— De quien sembramos las semillas (2025), by Lena Laguna Diel. Two cyanotypes on cotton, almost 5m high, wonderful.
— An exhibition you recommend?
— Com una dansa d’Estornells, MACBA Collection (now in Barcelona).
— And, a lesson you have learned from the art world?
— The ability to transform thought into form. The art world teaches us that a work is not born only from technical skill, but from a deep intellectual and conceptual process. Ideas, social critiques, existential questions, or abstract intuitions become visual language. This implies a kind of "translation" (Walter Benjamin) that materializes in an image, an installation, or an action. Contemporary art reminds us that thinking critically and creatively not only serves to analyze the world but also to reconstruct it. The artist does not merely represent reality; they question it, deform it, and propose new readings.
The art world teaches us that ideas are sufficient raw material to create complexity, beauty, and impact, and that true skill consists in giving them a form that makes visible what is initially invisible.