ABOUT
I had the opportunity to work as a photographer in well-known advertising agencies. Just as my career was beginning to stabilize, I felt a spiritual calling that led me to follow a different path and dedicate myself to artistic creation. This spiritual awakening marked the beginning of a profound and transformative journey for me.
My quantum art is inspired by a mystical experience and a personal shift in consciousness. Through this process, art has helped me to confront my shadows. I have felt the need to illuminate my life and to make a profound change by facing the most hidden parts of myself.
As human beings, we experience a deep connection with everything around us, as if the world is a shared dream. Inspired by this vision, I try to capture and share, through my art, that magical world that we often do not notice.
Artist statement
Artist Biography
Carlos Bernal Iglesias (Madrid, 1982) is a multimedia artist and conceptual photographer whose career emerged from a professional background in renowned advertising agencies and later evolved through a profound spiritual transformation that led him into new creative territories. Having begun his photographic journey in 1982 as a self-taught practitioner, and subsequently consolidating his standing in the commercial sphere, a mystical experience and a radical shift in consciousness propelled him beyond conventional modes of representation toward what he terms “quantum art.” Within this realm, he probes reality and perception through subtler dimensions, illuminating the interplay between human beings, their environment, and the invisible forces that bind them.
Transcending mere visual aesthetics, his work aspires to confront inner shadows, illuminating them to reveal underlying truths. By exploring subconscious programming, creative manifestation, and the universal web of connectivity, Carlos challenges viewers to look beyond the quotidian surface of existence. Firmly rooted in the conviction that “reality is a projection of the subconscious,” he invites audiences to perceive the world as a shared dream, where traditional boundaries dissolve and a heightened sense of empathy and unity emerges.
His oeuvre has gained international resonance, having been exhibited in prominent galleries in New York, Madrid, Barcelona, and Hamburg, as well as featured in art fairs like the Miami River Art Fair. Solo exhibitions such as “La Mirada Cuántica: On the Threshold of the Divine,” presented in cultural venues throughout Madrid, and diverse collective exhibitions in sociocultural centers, museums, and foundations, attest to the conceptual coherence and versatility of his practice. Distinctions including the Gold Star of Professional Excellence and the First Prize in Digital Art at Prisma International underscore the critical and artistic appreciation of his work, which is held in private collections and in the permanent collection of the Photo-Book Museum in Cologne, Germany.
Through his photobooks, exhibitions, and public talks, Carlos Bernal Iglesias creates a bridge between the visible and the invisible, the material and the spiritual. His art fosters an immersive experience that dissolves preconceived notions of reality, urging the viewer to embrace imagination and a more profound sense of human interconnectivity. In doing so, his oeuvre stands as a transformative beacon, guiding us toward greater understanding, empathy, and inner awakening.
Biography
Exhibitions
Solo Exhibitions
- 2024
"La Mirada Cuantica: On the Threshold of the Divine" - C.C. Juan Genovés, Madrid.
"La Mirada Cuantica: On the Threshold of the Divine" - Cultural Center S.M, Madrid.
- 2023
"Intangible Signs" - Centro Sociocultural Rosario de Acuña, Madrid.
- 2022
"Intangible Signs" - Luis Rosales Regional Public Library, Madrid.
Group Exhibitions
- 2024
"Muestra internacional de arte actual" Socio-Cultural Paco de Lucía, Madrid.
"Homenaje a Cervantes y el Quijote" Centro-Sociocultural Rosario de Acuña; Madrid.
“Thinking about our planet, Let's imagine the future” - Monteagudo Castle, DEARTE Foundation, Monteagudo de las Vicarias.
Winter Salon - Socio-cultural Center El Greco, Madrid.
- 2023
Autumn Salon - Centro socio-cultural Latina, Madrid.
- 2022
- Maison de Eros, Erotic - DeArte Foundation, Medinaceli.
- Open Cultural Space - Madrid.
- “Art Unites Us with Hope” - Prisma Internacional, Chile.
- Uninhabited Spaces, Occupied Places - DeArte Foundation, Medinaceli.
- Charity Exhibition - Zaballos Foundation, Centro Riojano, Madrid.
- “For the Love of Art” - Sara Montiel Cultural Center, Madrid.
- “For the Love of Art” - Lope de Vega Cultural Center, Madrid.
- Seekers of Beauty - Almirante Churruca Social and Cultural Center, Madrid.
- Zaballos Foundation Awards - Intercontinental Hotel, Madrid.
- 2021
- Collective “For the Love of Art” - Rosario de Acuña Socio-cultural Center, Madrid.
- “For the Love of Art” - José Luis San Pedro Cultural Center, Madrid.
- The Human Body Male or Female - Sky Gallery, Barcelona.
- 2020
- Winter Salon - Centro socio-cultural El Greco, Madrid.
- 2019
- Autumn Exhibition - Centro socio-cultural Latina, Madrid.
- 2018
- Eka & Moor Gallery - Madrid.
- 2011
- Survival Art5 Gallery - Madrid.
- 2010
- Art5 Gallery - Madrid.
- Taller de'l Artista - Sabadell.
- 2009
- Amsterdam Whitney Gallery - New York.
- 2008
- Altered States of Reality - Agora Gallery, New York.
- 2007
- Marizart International - Hamburg.
- 2006
- “Tantra Azul” - Global Art Gallery, Barcelona.
- Series “5” - Pia Almoina Museum, Barcelona.
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Awards
- 2022: First Prize in Digital Art - Prisma International Competition.
- 2018: Gold Star of Professional Excellence.
- 2018: Gold Medal of the Spanish Association of Image Professionals.
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Recognitions
- 2006: Member of the Jury of Fashion Premios Lux de Fotografía,(AFPE).
- Speaker: Universidad Rey Juan Carlos I, Jornadas De Publicidad, Madrid.
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Art Fairs
- 2022: Miami River Art Fair, USA.
- 2015: Jáál Photo, Madrid.
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Private Collections
- Ferran Adrià, “El Bulli”, Barcelona.
- Angela di Bello, Director of Agora Gallery, New York.
- Ruthie TucKer, Director of Amsterdam Whitney Gallery, New York.
- Miquel Tugores, Director of DEARTE Foundation, Medinaceli.
- Emilia Zaballos, President of the Zaballos Foundation, Madrid.
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Permanent Works in Museums
- Maison de Eros, DeArte Foundation, Erotic Collective, Medinaceli.
- Photobook “Intangible Signs” - PHOTOBOOKMUSEUM, Cologne.
- Photobook “Nora” - PHOTOBOOKMUSEUM, Cologne.
- Photobook “5” - PHOTOBOOKMUSEUM, Cologne.
- Photobook “15M” - PHOTOBOOKMUSEUM, Cologne.
- Photobook “Quantum Museum” - PHOTOBOOKMUSEUM, Cologne.
- Photobook “London Soul” - PHOTOBOOKMUSEUM, Cologne.
Curriculum
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