Ignasi Aballí

born 1958 in Barcelona, Spain

lives and works in Barcelona, Spain

The notions of error and correction form a through line in the work of the Catalan artist Ignasi Aballí. Relying on his personal gift of observation, he questions the conventions of art and representation. Aballí collects dust, classifies lists, and observes the passing of time on photosensitive paper. In this work, his focus is always trained on the expansion of the traditional boundaries of materials, as well as on the investigation of how information can be transformed into something else—or simply disappear.

Aballí’s artistic practice oscillates between the archiving of everyday occurrences and visualizing what seems unfinished and imperfect. He uses his works to look at what otherwise remains out of sight: manufacturing defects, faded slides, empty shelves, and monochrome canvases that did not succeed in entering the classical canon of completed works of art. Series like Pieles or Rótulos transform what appears like nonachievement into a new aesthetic category. He works with the “essence of failure” not as an end with negative connotations, but as a state of productive dysfunction that reveals the process of creation and liberates it from the confrontation with a final result.

As visual events with great conceptual depth, his works cause us to see not only what is there, but also what is missing, what has been discarded, or what only becomes complete through our own perception.

At the 59th Venice Biennale in 2022, Aballí represented Spain with his spectacular project Corrección in which he “corrected” the architecture of the pavilion by creating a minimal shift in the building’s structure. Through this intervention, he questioned the perception of space and imperfection in a way that was radical and subtle at the same time.

Selected Solo Exhibitions: CAAC Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporáneo, Sevilla (2024); Meadows Museum, Dallas, Texas (2022); Blueproject Foundation, Barcelona (2019); Museum of Contemporary Art, Zagreb (2018); Museo de la Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá (2017); Joan Miró Foundation, Barcelona (2016); Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid (2015); Pinacoteca do Estado, São Paulo (2010); Joan Miró Foundation, Barcelona (2008); ZKM Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie, Karlsruhe (2006); Serralves Museum, Porto (2006); MACBA Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Barcelona, Barcelona (2005).

Aballí represented Spain at the 59th Venice Biennale in 2022. He participated at the Cuenca Biennial (2016), the Guangzhou Triennial (2012), the Sharjah Biennial (2007), the Venice Biennale (2007) and the Biennale of Sydney (1998). He was awarded the Joan Miró Prize in 2015.

Selected Collections: Artium Centro Museo Vasco de Arte Contemporáneo, Vitoria-Gasteiz; Centre d’Art La Panera, Lleida; CAAC Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporáneo, Sevilla; Colección Banco de España, Madrid; Ellipse Foundation-Contemporary Art Collection, Cascais; Fundació Vila Casas, Barcelona; Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid; Museo Patio Herrerianode Arte Contempor, Valladolid; MACBA Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Barcelona, Barcelona; Museu de Granollers, Barcelona.