Iván Franco

Ourense, Spain, 1979

Galicia 1920. - 2023. Graphite pencils on paper. 50.5 × 50.5 cm (framed)

Unfocused - 2025. Coloured pencils on paper. 49 x 37 cm (framed).

Rose. - 2023. Graphite pencils on paper. 50.5 × 50.5 cm (framed)

Under the red sweater - 2024. Coloured pencils on paper glued to Aluminium Dibond. 140 x 140 cm | 142 x 142 x 5 cm (framed).

Ceci n'est pas une bougie. - 2023. Graphite pencils on paper. 50.5 × 50.5 cm (framed)

Unfocused Adèle - 2025. Coloured pencils on paper. 20 x 16 cm | 49.5 x 37.5 x 3 cm (framed).

Unfocused hand. - 2023. Graphite pencils on paper. 50.5 × 50.5 cm (framed)

Red glass - 2025. Coloured pencils on paper glued to Aluminium Dibond. 140 x 110 cm | 142 x 112 x 5 cm (framed).

Unfocused. Landscape lights [2] - 2025. Graphite pencils on paper. 12.5 x 10 cm | 49.5 x 37.5 x 3 cm (framed).

Unfocused Paula - 2025, Coloured pencils on paper. 20 x 16 cm | 49.5 x 37.5 x 3 cm (framed).

Red Umbrella (2), 2025. Coloured pencils on paper. 15 x 12 cm | 49.5 x 37.5 x 3 cm (framed).

Swimmer - 2024. Coloured pencil on paper. 60 x 60 cm | 60.5 x 60.5 x 3 cm (framed).

Rose (3) - 2025. Coloured pencils on paper. 10 x 8 cm | 49.5 x 37.5 x 3 cm (framed).

Central park - 2024 . Graphite and acrylic on paper. 12.5 x 10 cm 58.5 x 41 x 3.5 cm (framed).

Unfocused (Le) [6] - 2023. Colour pencils on paper. 152 x 122 cm.

Hand - 2022. Oil on polaroid. 50 x 50 cm.

Tres xemeneies - 2022. Oil on digital photograph giclée print. 95 × 80 cm.

Red Umbrella - 2022. Colour pencils on paper. 101 x 101 cm.

Unfocused (Le) [1] - 2022. Colour pencils on paper. 49 x 37 cm.

Untitled 2 - 2022. Colour pencils on paper. 49 x 37 cm.

About

Lives and works in Barcelona, Spain

Iván Franco’s artistic practice centers on the interrogation of perception and the shifting boundaries between painting and photography. Through his hyperrealistic and conceptually rich figurative works, Franco explores themes of identity, illusion, and the constructed nature of reality. His paintings echo the visual language of photography with meticulous attention to light, grain, and chromatic aberration, techniques that emulate not just the appearance of a photograph, but the viewer’s emotional response to it. At the core of his practice is the simulacrum: a visual fiction that reflects the contemporary experience of truth and image. Rooted in classical references yet grounded in the digital age, his work reimagines traditional portraiture, turning everyday subjects into modern myths that ask us to reconsider what we believe we see. As his compositions evolve, so too does his inquiry, shifting from representational precision to structural complexity, where the very surface of the image becomes a site of conceptual tension.

Iván Franco is a visual artist from Ourense, currently based in Barcelona. A graduate of the University of Vigo, Franco has built an international reputation for his unique ability to merge classical technique with contemporary critique. He has exhibited widely across Europe and the United States. His work has been featured at major art fairs including Zona Maco, Arte Miami, and Seattle Art Fair. Since 2015, he has been part of the resident artist community at Piramidón, where he continues to challenge visual assumptions and explore the fragility of representation, redefining the visual codes that shape how we experience and interpret reality.

CV

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SOLO EXHIBITIONS
(Des-)Estructurado, Alzueta Gallery, Madrid, Spain (2025)
Lo real Ingrávido, Revela’t 2025, Vilassar de Dalt, Spain (2025)
Frictions T10, Alzueta Gallery, Barcelona, Spain (2024)
Focal Distance, Arcadia Contemporary, New York, USA (2023)
ONE AND THREE POLAROIDS, Alzueta Gallery, Barcelona, Spain (2022)
H0, Piramidón Centre d’Art Contemporani, Barcelona, Spain (2018)
Marte, Feria de Arte Contemporáneo, Castellón, Spain (2018)
Contact Sheet, Alzueta Gallery, Barcelona, Spain (2017)
True and False, Alzueta Gallery, Barcelona, Spain (2015)
Ideografías, Portal 48 Gallery, Pontevedra, Spain (2014)
Significantes Simulados, Art Gallery Puerto de la Cruz, Puerto de la Cruz, Spain (2009)

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
Marco. Límite y lugar, Alzueta Gallery, Madrid, Spain (2025)
New Portraits, Alzueta Gallery, Barcelona, Spain (2024)
Sota Un Mateix Cel, Piramidón Centre d’Art Contemporani, Girona, Spain (2023)
Mod-Portrait2020, MEAM, Barcelona, Spain (2021)
Càpsules De Confinament: Art I Pandèmia A Catalunya, Museu Can Framis, Barcelona, Spain (2020)
Premi De Fotografia 2020, Museu Palau Solterra, Torroella de Montgrí, Spain (2020)
2020_n1, Piramidón Centre d’Art Contemporani, Barcelona, Spain (2020)
Realismo Español Contemporáneo, Hoki Museum, Chiba, Japan (2019)
20th Anniversary, Galerie Arcturus, Paris, France (2019)
Booth Alb, Galerie ALB, Paris, France (2019)
Mod-Portrait2018, Sala Bantierra, Zaragoza / MEAM, Barcelona, Spain (2019)
Modportrait2017, IACC Pablo Serrano, Zaragoza / MEAM, Barcelona, Spain (2018)
2018_n3, Piramidón Centre d’Art Contemporani, Barcelona, Spain (2018)
2017_n3, Piramidón Centre d’Art Contemporani, Barcelona, Spain (2017)
Un Face À Face Espagnol. Miguel Macaya – Iván Franco, Galerie Arcturus, Paris, France (2017)
BP Portrait Award, National Portrait Gallery, London, UK (2016)
À Dessein, Galerie Binôme, Paris, France (2016)
Realitats, Pigment Gallery, Barcelona, Spain (2016)
25 Al Quadrat, Piramidón Centre d’Art Contemporani, Barcelona, Spain (2015)
No Más De 18, Galería Metro, Santiago de Compostela, Spain (2015)
Premio Internacional De Pintura Guasch Coranty, Centro de Arte Contemporáneo Tecla Sala, Barcelona, Spain (2015)
II Concurso De Retrato Internacional Mod-Portrait, Sala Bantierra, Zaragoza, Spain (2015)
I Concurso De Retrato Internacional Mod-Portrait, Sala Bantierra, Zaragoza, Spain (2014)
VIII Premio Auditorio De Galicia Para Novos Artistas, Auditorio de Galicia, Santiago de Compostela, Spain (2014)
Bienal D’Art Im-Port-Art Ex-Port-Art, Tinglado 4, Tarragona, Spain (2013)
Algo Más Que Realismo VII, Agrupación Artística Aragonesa, Zaragoza, Spain (2013)
Regreso Al Futuro (Imperfecto), Galeria Portal 48, Pontevedra, Spain (2013)
XI Bienal Pintor Laxeiro, Museo Municipal Ramón Mª Aller, Lalín, Spain (2013)
BP Portrait Award 2012, National Portrait Gallery, London, UK (2012)
14 Concurso De Pintura Joven, Galeria Arloft, Reus, Spain (2012)
Arte Contemporáneo Siglo XXI, MEAM, Barcelona, Spain (2011)
Certamen De Pintura Y Esculturas Figurativas ’11, Museo Casa de la Moneda, Madrid, Spain (2011)
Vemos O Que Somos, Somos O Que Vemos, Pazo da Cultura, Pontevedra, Spain (2010)
Novos Valores 2009, Museo de Pontevedra, Pontevedra, Spain (2009)
Arte Xoven 2008, Ayuntamiento de Pontedeume, A Coruña, Spain (2008)

ART FAIRS
NADA MIAMI, Alzueta Gallery, Miami, USA (2025)
LA ART SHOW, Arcadia Contemporary, Los Angeles, USA (2024)
FIVE AND UNDER, Arcadia Contemporary, New York, USA (2023)
SEATTLE ART FAIR, Arcadia Contemporary, Seattle, USA (2023)
LA ART SHOW, Arcadia Contemporary, Los Angeles, USA (2023)
ZONA MACO, Alzueta Gallery, Ciudad de Mexico, Mexico (2023)
FIVE AND UNDER, Arcadia Contemporary, New York, USA (2022)
LA ART SHOW, Arcadia Contemporary, Los Angeles, USA (2022)
ART ON PAPER, Arcadia Contemporary, New York, USA (2021)
JUSTMAD, Alzueta Gallery, Madrid, Spain (2020)
ART MIAMI, Alzueta Gallery, Miami, USA (2019)
ART PARIS, Galerie ALB, Paris, France (2017)
ARTMADRID, Alzueta Gallery, Madrid, Spain (2017)
ARTMADRID, Alzueta Gallery, Madrid, Spain (2016)
ART ÉLYSÉES, Alzueta Gallery, Paris, France (2015)
SLICK ART FAIR, Galerie Binôme, Paris, France (2015)

AWARDS
Mod-Portrait 2020, Sala Bantierra, Zaragoza, Spain (Honorable Mention) (2020)
Mod-Portrait 2018, Sala Bantierra, Zaragoza, Spain (Honorable Mention) (2018)
Mod-Portrait 2017, Sala Bantierra, Zaragoza, Spain (Honorable Mention) (2017)
Mod-Portrait 2015, Sala Bantierra, Zaragoza, Spain (Honorable Mention) (2015)
Mod-Portrait 2014, Sala Bantierra, Zaragoza, Spain (Honorable Mention) (2014)
Beca Maria Josepa Giner, Galeria Anquin’s, Reus, Spain (2012)
XI Premio de Fotografía Area de Artes Plásticas, Universidad de Murcia, Spain (First Honorable Mention) (2011)
Becas Roberto Villagraz, Escuela de fotografía EFTI, Madrid, Spain (Finalist)
XXVII Certamen de Pintura Concello de Cambre, Biblioteca Municipal de Cambre, A Coruña, Spain (Honorable Mention) (2010)
III Certamen de Pintura y Esculturas Figurativas, Barcelona, Spain (Acquisition Award) (2008)
VII Premio Regional de Fotografía Cajas de Ahorros de Canarias, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain (First Prize) (2008)
XI Concurso de Fotografía Deportiva, Concello de Santiago, Santiago de Compostela, Spain (First Prize) (2007)
I Certamen de Pintura Figurativa, Barcelona, Spain (Acquisition Award) (2006)
Certamen Maxoarte, Modalidad de fotografía a color, Las Palmas, Spain (First Prize) (2005)
Certamen Maxoarte, Modalidad de fotografía a color, Las Palmas, Spain (2004)
Certamen Maxoarte, Modalidad de pintura, Las Palmas, Spain (2001)
Certamen Maxoarte, Modalidad de pintura, Las Palmas, Spain (1998)