Biography

Susana Villa (b. 1971, Madrid, Spain) is a New York–based visual artist whose work explores the figure as a site of emotional presence and perception. Through vibrant color, layered surfaces, and partially obscured forms, she creates figurative spaces where atmosphere and gesture take precedence over narrative, inviting an immediate visual and emotional response.

Villa trained in painting at the Escuela Superior de Conservación y Restauración de Bienes Culturales in Madrid and later studied at the New York Academy of Art. Her early material-driven approach, influenced by Informalism, evolved toward a more expressive figurative language following her encounter with Francis Bacon’s retrospective at the Museo del Prado.

Her work has been exhibited internationally, including at the European Museum of Modern Art (MEAM, Barcelona), Miami Dade College with IRREVERSIBLE Projects, the Mexican Cultural Institute, and the Zhou B Art Center (Chicago). In 2024, Visionary Projects selected her work for digital display across New York public transit stations, and she completed a residency at MAC Florencio de la Fuente (Cuenca, Spain), where her work entered the museum’s permanent collection. Her work was presented during Miami Art Week 2025. Villa’s practice emphasizes color and spatial tension as tools to convey emotional intensity and presence.