Marta Leyva (b. 1985, Spain) is a Barcelona and Stockholm-based artist whose work draws deeply from her Catalan roots, depicting lavish meals, intimate gatherings, and vibrant social scenes suspended between the mundane and the absurd. Using the communal ritual of eating as her central motif, she subverts social convention and decorum, reimagining the imagery of French bourgeois painting through a contemporary, free, and hedonistic lens. Her after-dinner scenes pulse with Dionysian energy, as Mediterranean light, landscape, and mythological spirit transform uninhibited figures into celebrations of unrestrained pleasure. Transcending gender and nationality, each canvas is an opulent, emotionally charged narrative that invites viewers into a sensory feast, connecting them to their own imagination and personal memories.
With a background in translation and interpretation, Leyva brings a transcultural approach to her self-taught practice. Emotion and humour are universal languages, and Leyva paints in them with her tongue-in-cheek approach to food, pleasure, and the human condition.
Solo exhibitions include Les Dones de Picasso, Sala Muncunill – Terrassa, Barcelona, Spain (2025); Mediterranean Delicacy, Vogue, Digital Exhibition (2023); Culture Explosion, Misshumasshu, Stockholm, Sweden (2022); Spanish Vision, Alma Club, Stockholm, Sweden (2019); Himno a lo Exótico, Hotel Emperador, Madrid, Spain (2019); Art in Women, Soho House, Barcelona, Spain (2019); I’m Feeling So Exotic, Paradiso, Ibiza, Spain (2019); Flower Power, Studio Rei Gallery, Stockholm, Sweden (2018); Primary Colours, Taverna Brillo, Stockholm, Sweden (2018); Flower Power, Jung Relations, Stockholm, Sweden (2018); Exotic Anthem, Cage Gallery, Barcelona, Spain (2018).
Group Exhibitions include The great big winter show, Hans Alf Gallery, Copenhagen, Denmark (2026); New Adventures in Hi-Fi VOL. V, Victor Lope Gallery, Barcelona, Spain (2025); Morning Haze, Lazy Mike Gallery, Seoul, South Korea (2025); Art Fair KIAF with SEOHWA GALLERY, Seoul, South Korea (2025); Interior, Hans Alf Gallery, Copenhagen, Denmark (2025); Woman is Art, Miss Clara, Stockholm, Sweden (2020); Woman is Art, Melia, Madrid, Spain (2020); Hidden Talents, AAF, Stockholm, Sweden (2019).
Highlights
Leyva has exhibited internationally. She has worked as an illustrator for Vogue, AD, and Harper’s Bazaar.