Lidia Vives

LIDIA VIVES (Lleida, 1991)
"Sugar Picnic", 2024.
Photograph printed on methacrylate with aluminum base and glossy finish, copy 3/7.
Signed and numbered.
With certificate of authenticity.
Print run of 7 copies.
Measurements: 56 x 80 cm.

This photograph was on exhibition at the Galeria Espai Cavallers (Lleida, Spain) during the solo exhibition "Dear Diary". A perfect picnic... or not so much? Sugar Picnic is a scene that, at first glance, evokes the innocence of a summer postcard: a young redhead, a plaid blanket, bright cherries and perfect sweets. But beneath this idyllic surface lurks a sweet and sharp critique of the cult of sugar, childish marketing, and the habits that follow us from childhood into adulthood. With her characteristic pictorial and cinematographic style, Lídia Vives builds an image where every element -from the dress to the artificial pastels- is loaded with irony. Nostalgia is mixed with lucidity, reminding us that not everything that seems sweet is really sweet. An image that seduces, provokes and awakens the memory.

"Sugar Picnic" is a visual delight with acid undertones: a critique camouflaged among cherries, memories and false promises.

Lídia Vives is a photographer and visual artist based in Barcelona. She has exhibited in museums and galleries such as the Louvre and the Saatchi Gallery, and has been published in media such as Vogue Italia or Esquire. Her work mixes pop aesthetics, social criticism and pictorial references to create powerful, beautiful and uncomfortable images at the same time. Other exhibitions (selection): 2016- Sex Series, Fifty Dots Gallery, Barcelona, Spain (Solo); 2015 - Shared Experience, Inqubator Art Gallery, Melbourne, Australia (Collective), Evasiones, Galería Léucade, Múrcia, Spain (Collective), El + de la fotografia, Cercle de Belles Arts, Lleida, Spain (Collective). 2014 - Wonderland, Espacio Luvitien, Teruel, Spain (Solo). 2013 - Wonderland, Casa de la Cultura de Andorra, Teruel, Spain (Solo). 2012 - Lidia's Shots, Funatic, Lleida, Spain (Solo). Her work has appeared in numerous publications.