Cristina Lucas, idealista Prize for Contemporary Art 2025

“A Montanha” is an award-winning project of the multidisciplinary artist with her art that questions what is established.

Spanish artist Cristina Lucas (Úbeda, 1973) is the winner of the seventh edition of the Idealista Prize for Contemporary Art 2025 with her project “Montanhas”.

The prize includes a financial grant and the artist’s intervention with his work in the idealista spaces at the real estate fairs in which the company participates. Specifically, Cristina Lucas presents the project awarded by idealista at the company’s stand at the Salão Imobiliário de Portugal (SIL), from April 10 to 12.

Multidisciplinary artist Cristina Lucas, recognized for questioning what is established through her art, was awarded the Idealista Prize for Contemporary Art 2025. Her project “Montanhas” was selected for its visual impact and its ability to provoke reflections on the current society in which we live.

The exhibition, curated by Elisa Hernando and coordinated by Arte Global, presents a selection of photographs from the “A Montanha” collection that analyze the main political and economic structures, dissecting them to reveal the contradictions between official history, reality and collective memory.

With the “A Montanha” collection, Cristina reflects on how man has altered his surroundings to survive, creating an order closely linked to productivity. This feat was shaped by its surroundings, determining the current panorama with which we must live. This collection of photographs is strategically linked to the notion that mountains are shaped by productivity, that is, they are “anthropotically modified.” Its nature is an economic effect. The raw materials pile up in surprising quantities, accompanied by their usual inhabitant, a worker who – with his mere presence – gives us an idea of ​​scale and reveals the dimensions of the accumulated material. At the same time, as in Caspar David Friedrich, the figure of the man in the solitude of the mountain provokes a certain state of reflection or awareness of the world.

The Idealista Contemporary Art Award is an initiative by the leading real estate marketplace in Portugal, Spain and Italy with which the company aims to recognize the talent and vision of young creators and seeks to encourage and support contemporary artistic production. In its first edition in 2018, the award was given to Basque artist Ismael Iglesias (Durango, 1974), with the work “Streetfighter“; the second, in 2019, was won by Huesca artist David Latorre (Huesca, 1973) with his project “Architecture, Body and Clothing”; in 2020 there was no call due to the pandemic and in 2021 he won the Jorge Yeregui award (Santander, 1975) with the project “Communities”. Cuban artist Hamlet Lavastida (Havana, 1983) was the winner of the Idealista Prize in 2022. In the 2023 edition, the winner was Mónica de Miranda (Porto, 1976) with her project “South Circular” and, last year, in 2024, the winner was Madrid artist Diana Larrea.

Why the Idealist Award

The idealist has spent years supporting national and international authors and encouraging the artistic production of contemporary art through the acquisition of works of art that reflect the impact of “urbanism” on people’s lives. It has a collection of pieces by authors such as Panos Kokkinias (Athens, Greece, 1965), Teresa Margolles (Culiacán, Mexico, 1963), Maider López (San Sebastián, Spain, 1975), Olaf Breuning (Schaffhausen, Switzerland, 1970) and Massimo Vitali (Como, Italy, 1944). The works are part of an itinerant route between the company’s offices in Barcelona, ​​Lisbon, Madrid, Malaga and Milan. For the creation of the “Idealista Prize”, and the coordination of the prize in the next editions, Idealista selected Elisa Hernando, director of Arte Global, who curated Cristina Lucas’ intervention at SIMA Madrid.

About Cristina Lucas

Cristina Lucas (Úbeda, 1973) exhibited in museums such as CAAC Seville, Spain; Kunstruimte De Nederlandsche Bank, Amsterdam; MUDAM, Luxembourg; Kunstraum Innsbruck; Stedelijk Museum, Schiedam; Dos de Mayo Art Center, Madrid, among others. She also participated in the 28th São Paulo Biennial (2008) and the 10th Liverpool Biennial (2010), as well as Manifesta 12 in Palermo.

Cristina Lucas’s works are present in international collections such as the Helga de Alvear Museum, in Spain; Centre Pompidou, Paris; National Museum of Contemporary Art KIASMA, Helsinki; Van Abbe Museum, Eindhoven; The Coppel Collection, Mexico and Bulgarian Collection, Italy, among others.
The curator: Elisa Hernando Calero

Elisa Hernando Calero has been the curator of the exhibition and the Idealist art collection since its inception. She holds a PhD in Art History and Economic and Business Sciences from the Autonomous University of Madrid. Businesswoman and entrepreneur, she founded Arte Global, a cultural management company in 2003, and the online art platform RedCollectors.com in 2017. Professor and speaker on art, market and collecting at the Autonomous University of Madrid, Complutense and Antonio Nebrija, among others. She has curated exhibitions in museums and institutions such as the Museo Lázaro Galdiano, Madrid; DA2 Salamanca, MUSAC, Leon; The Jordan National Gallery of Fine Arts, Amman, among others.

About Global Art

Arte Global is an international art consultancy dedicated to art collecting and cultural management projects for institutions, companies and individuals. Founded in 2003 by Elisa Hernando, Arte Global has renowned clients such as Uría Menéndez Advogados, Banco Santander Foundation, ARCOmadrid, Repsol, idealista, among others.

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