Lara Padilla is a Madrid-based Spanish multidisciplinary artist whose work brings together painting, sculpture, dance, performance and fashion. Educated in Fine Arts at the Complutense University of Madrid and in cinematography at TAI, she developed her distinctive visual language through encounters with urban art and hip-hop culture in New York, alongside public interventions in Spain and Miami. Her practice places the body at the centre of a wider exploration of identity, freedom and human connection.
Tetris, one of Padilla’s signature painting series, transforms the human figure into an intricate choreography of interlocking bodies. Influenced by the visual energy of Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring, the paintings combine expressive drawing, colour and textured surfaces. Enlarged hands, grounded feet and fluid silhouettes celebrate female strength and bodily diversity. Like pieces of a puzzle, the figures occupy a shared space, turning the canvas into an image of solidarity, belonging and social harmony.
Padilla is represented in Spain by 3 Punts Galeria and Juan Silió, while her international gallery presence includes Galerie Heike Strelow in Frankfurt, Square One Gallery in St. Louis and VISU Contemporary in Miami Beach. Her exhibition history includes a solo presentation at Madrid’s Museo de Zapadores and appearances at Art Miami, Palm Beach Modern + Contemporary, Art Madrid and ESTAMPA. A significant personal milestone was a sold-out presentation at Art Miami, marking her return as an exhibiting artist to a fair she had once visited with the ambition of participating.
Her collaboration with Patricia Field’s ArtFashion project has extended her practice onto international fashion platforms, including New York Fashion Week. Across these different contexts, Padilla maintains a recognisable artistic voice: bold, physical and deeply invested in the freedom to be oneself.
At KOOS gallery, Tetris invites viewers to discover how individual bodies can become a collective expression of strength, movement and connection.
