Christian Lagata (Jerez de la Frontera, 1986) lives and works in Madrid. His work explores the tensions between materiality and morphology in productive environments such as industrial zones or urban concentrations, and the different forms of ‘familiarity’ (mnemonic, functional, aesthetic) that we establish with them. He has exhibited at La Casa Encendida, CAAC, CA2M, CCCC, Artnueve, Voloshyn Gallery, ARCO, and ArtBrussels, and has participated in residencies at Matadero Madrid, Hangar Lisboa, and BilbaoArte. His work is part of collections such as Museo CA2M, CAAC, DKV, and Fundació Sorigué.
His practice is rooted in the appropriation and transformation of found objects. This familiarity with improvisation and matter facilitated his integration into the industrial environment of ArtWorks. From these elements, the artist built compositions that suggest ambiguous forms: bodies, shelters, structures oscillating between the organic and the mechanical. “In my practice there has always been a connection with industrial spaces and abandoned grounds, especially in the peripheries,” he explains. This relationship dates back to his childhood in Andalusia, marked by disused industrial landscapes. From that memory arises a tension between the cold and the warm, the sharp and the welcoming — an attempt to find traces of humanity in an increasingly harsh and impersonal urban context. During the residency, access to tools and technical resources allowed him to deepen his research into how materials respond to gesture and manipulation. The work developed also served as a starting point for his next exhibition, “Metal del verano”, inaugurated in November at the Centre for Contemporary Creation of Andalusia.
