Violeta Maya
Madrid, Spain, 1993
About
Lives and works in Madrid, Spain
Violeta Maya’s practice revolves around a physical and emotional surrender to the act of painting. She begins by soaking large raw canvases, laying them flat on the ground, and allowing time, water, and temperature to dictate the pace. The pigments she applies, diluted, luminous, often pastel, bleed and expand, creating atmospheric compositions that are both fluid and grounded. For Maya, this process is not about control but about listening: to the materials, to the space, and to her own inner state. Each work becomes a distilled fragment of a fleeting emotion, a landscape born from balance, imperfection, and chance. In a time oversaturated with images and urgency, her paintings feel like a pause, a soft but persistent reminder of the present, where feeling and form dissolve into one.
Violeta Maya graduated in 2015 from Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, in London. In recent years, she has participated in major international art fairs such as Art Basel (Miami), KIAF (Seoul) and ZONA MACO (Mexico City). Her work has been exhibited at Alzueta Gallery (Barcelona), Olivia Foundation (Mexico), and Nicelle Beauchene Gallery (New York), among other international galleries. Maya’s work has garnered the attention of major collectors and institutions, such as Jorge M. Pérez Art Museum (Miami), the Shah Garg Foundation (Atherton) and the Morgan Stanley Art Collection (New York).
CV
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
La Santísima Brocha del Divino Descontrol, Alzueta Gallery – Palau de Casavells, Casavells, Spain (2025)
Me atrevo a decir que esta pintura está viva, Nicelle Beauchene Gallery, New York, USA (2025)
Artist Spotlight, Olivia Foundation, Mexico City, Mexico (2024)
Precisamente porque el rosa me incomoda, Alzueta Gallery, Barcelona, Spain (2023)
Todo en constante cambio y yo aquí observando, Nicelle Beauchene Gallery, New York, USA (2022)
¿Verde Azulado o Azul Verdoso?, Alzueta Gallery – Palau de Casavells, Casavells, Spain (2022)
A mi nadie me preguntó si quería nacer, pero bueno, aquí estoy, Alzueta Gallery, Madrid, Spain (2022)
Solo Exhibition, Alzueta Gallery, Barcelona, Spain (2021)
Entre col y col, lechuga, Carrasco Art Gallery, Madrid, Spain (2021)
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
Modèle Vivant, Jack Siebert Projects, Los Angeles, USA (2025)
Dream Plane, Fernberger Gallery, Los Angeles, USA (2024)
A Site, Alzueta Gallery, Madrid, Spain (2023)
Árbol de Familia, Alzueta Gallery, Madrid, Spain (2022)
JÖY, Garna Art Gallery, Madrid, Spain (2021)
BOLD, Aprestadora Gallery, Barcelona, Spain (2020)
Group Exhibition, ArtFarm Pilastro, Verona, Italy (2019)
ES Fascinante, Galeria Espacio Valverde, Madrid, Spain (2015)
Central Saint Martins Degree Show, London, UK (2014)
Elaborate, Lethby Gallery, London, UK (2014)
The Delete Show, 71a Gallery, London, UK (2014)
SELECTED ART FAIRS
ZONA MACO, Alzueta Gallery, Mexico City, Mexico (2026)
THE ARMORY SHOW, Alzueta Gallery, New York, USA (2025)
ART BASEL MIAMI BEACH, Nicelle Beauchene Gallery, Miami, USA (2025)
ART BASEL HONG KONG, Nicelle Beauchene Gallery, Hong Kong, China (2025)
ZONA MACO, Alzueta Gallery, Mexico City, Mexico (2025)
ART BASEL MIAMI BEACH, Nicelle Beauchene Gallery, Miami, USA (2024)
KIAF SEOUL, Alzueta Gallery, Seoul, South Korea (2024)
FELIX ART FAIR, Nicelle Beauchene Gallery, Los Angeles, USA (2024)
ZONA MACO, Alzueta Gallery, Mexico City, Mexico (2024)
UVNT, Alzueta Gallery, Madrid, Spain (2023)
KIAF SEOUL, Alzueta Gallery, Seoul, South Korea (2023)
ESTAMPA ART FAIR, Rodrigo Juarranz Gallery, Madrid, Spain (2021)
ARTWORKS IN COLLECTIONS
Jorge M. Pérez Art Museum, Miami, Florida, USA
Morgan Stanley Art Collection, New York, NY
Olivia Foundation, Mexico City, Mexico
Shah Garg Foundation, Atherton, CA
Nassima Landau Art Foundation, Tel Aviv, Israel
JPMorgan Chase Art Collection, New York, NY
ART RESIDENCIES
El Castillete, Madrid, Spain (2024)
Alzueta Artist Residency, Girona, Spain (2023)
Artfarm Pilastro Residency, Verona, Italy (2019)
ArtFarm Pilastro Residency, Verona, Italy (2018)
Royal College of Art, London, UK (2014)
Zimoun Studio, Bern, Switzerland (2014)
AWARDS
Martin Miller’s Gin Art Commission, Affordable Art Fair, London, UK (2021)
El Flechazo Award, FLECHA Art Fair, Madrid, Spain (2020)
El Flechazo Award, FLECHA Art Fair, Madrid, Spain (2018)
First Prize, The Big White Wall Competition, Central Saint Martins, London, UK (2014)
PRESS
Gómez-Upegui, Salomé. «10 Contemporary Women Artists Channeling Helen Frankenthaler’s Abstract Expressionism», Artsy Editorial, Aug. 23. (2024)
Gómez-Upegui, Salomé. «A Spanish Artist’s Meditation on Feminity», The New York Times – T Magazine, Dec. 7. (2023)
«5 Artists on Our Radar in March 2023», Artsy, Mar. 3. (2023)
«10 Young Artists to Follow», L’Officiel Korea, Oct. (2022)
Lichterwaldt, Daniel. «Interview with Violeta Maya», Les Nouveaux Riches, Aug. 2. (2022)
Smith, Ellie. «Violeta Maya and Persiis Hajiyanni on Art out of Isolation», Country & Town House, Sep. 15. (2021)
«Meet the Artists: Fluid Form», Affordable Art Fair, Oct. 21. (2021)
«Violeta McGuire, the winning artist of FLECHA 2019, exhibits her art in motion in Madrid», FLECHA, Oct. 24. (2019)
«Meet the Artist Violeta McGuire», MadGirls Magazine. (2017)
