ISABEL MIQUEL ARQUES

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I am a storyteller — a visual artist working with photography, text, and screen printing.

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Born in Lleida, Spain, I grew up surrounded by music and images. My mother was a concert pianist, and my father, a businessman and amateur photographer, gave me my first camera at the age of ten — a Kodak Instamatic 25 that still sits on my desk today.

After living and working in Barcelona, London, and Amsterdam, I settled in Antwerp in 2005.

My artistic practice is deeply rooted in the materiality of photography. Moving between tradition and modernity, I explore the strength that lies within fragility, beauty, and poetry. Texture, transparency, and tactility are central to my work, where imperfections and traces are essential — visible, tangible, and embraced.

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Current Project

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I am currently developing the third book and exhibition of my Beyond Borders trilogy — a series of visual dialogues with three iconic female figures who have shaped my artistic universe: Karen Blixen, Virginia Woolf, and Georgia O’Keeffe.

This third dialogue focuses on Georgia O’Keeffe. I recently traveled to New Mexico, invited by the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum – Historical Properties, to research and experience O’Keeffe’s life and work in situ.

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The first two dialogues — with Karen Blixen and Virginia Woolf — were published by Ludion in 2022 and 2023, each accompanied by an exhibition at Geukens & De Vil Gallery.

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The book launch and exhibition for the third volume are scheduled for  2026, presented by Geukens & De Vil Projects at Fabriek Noord (Verbeke Foundation)Antwerp).

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Honorable Mention Hariban Award 2022

Series "The Spain of my Father"

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Solo Exhibitions

2009/ Gallery Van De Weghe  (Antwerp) “Portrait with shrimp croquet”. Based on her book with the same title published by Ludion.
2010/ “Portrait with shrimp croquet”, Soledad Senlle Gallery - Amsterdam.
2012/ “Agitation” Ingrid Deuss Gallery – Antwerp
2015/ “Here be lions” Ingrid Deuss Gallery – Antwerp
2015/ Invited artist with her audiovisual project “Music box” to KADS (Kunst aan de Schinkel- Art along the Schinkel) in Amsterdam. Art in public spaces.
2016/ Artwork “To See” for the TAG Foundation - Antwerp.
2018/ “Après l’Averse/After the Downpour” Ingrid Deuss Gallery – Antwerp

2021/ Ingrid Deuss Gallery curated by Roxane Baeyens -  "Studies on movement and Imperfections"

2022/  Geukens & De Vil Gallery (Antwerp) of the first artistic dialogue of the trilogy Beyond Borders, "Beyond Borders- Isabel Miquél Arques in dialogue with Karen Blixen"

2023/ "De Memòria" (From Memory) IEI- Sala Gòtica (Institut d'Estudis Ilerdencs) 

2023/ Geukens&De Vil Gallery (Antwerp) of the second artistic dialogue of the trilogy Beyond Borders, "Beyond Borders- Isabel Miquel Arqués in dialogue with Virginia Woolf" (published by Ludion)

2026/ Geukens & De Vil Projects(Antwerp) of the third artistic dialogue of the trilogy Beyond Borders, "Beyond Borders- Isabel Miquel Arques in dialogue with Georgia O'Keeffe" (published by Ludion)

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Group Exhibition

2021/ "Unseen" (Amsterdam) Ingrid Deuss Gallery

2022/ Unseen Art Fair - September Amsterdam

2022/ Group exhibition curated by Els Wuyts in Villa Les Zephyrs exhibiting "Les oreilles de la Mer"

2023/ April-Finissage "Les oreilles de la Mer"

2023/ March 24 - Deuss Gallery

2023/ 10 march-14 may "De Memoria" IEI (Estudios Ilerdenses) Lleida -Spain

2024/ "The Long Goodbye" - Geukens & De Vil Gallery​

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Projects and Artist in Residence

2019/ Artist in residency at the Center of Contemporary Art Ifitry, in Essaouira (Morocco)

2019/ Invited artist to develop a personal artistic project at Karen Blixen Museum - Copenhagen

​2025/Georgia O'Keeffe Museum-Historical Properties (Santa Fe-New Mexico/USA)

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Book Publications

"Portrait with shrimp croquet" (Ludion)

"Here be Lions" (Ingrid Deuss Gallery)

Beyond Borders trilogy (published by Ludion): "Beyond Borders- Isabel Miquel Arqués in dialogue with Karen Blixen", "Beyond Borders-Isabel Miquel Arqués in dialogue with Virginia Woolf", "Beyond Borders- Isabel Miquel Arqués in dialogue with Georgia O'Keeffe" 

"An Ear or a Shell or an Ear" (from the exhibition "Les Oreilles de la Mer")

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