TBA21 Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary

Daniel Steegmann Mangrané

Daniel Steegmann Mangrané is a Spanish-born artist whose practice interweaves nature, technology, and perception through a multidisciplinary approach that spans installation, film, photography, drawing, and virtual reality. Born in 1977 in Barcelona, he has been living and working in Rio de Janeiro since the early 2000s, where his work has been deeply influenced by Brazil’s ecology, architecture, and cultural complexity.

Steegmann Mangrané’s work often explores the boundaries between organic life and constructed environments, delving into how systems—biological, linguistic, or technological—shape our experience of the world. One of his best-known works, Phantom (kingdom of all the animals and all the beasts is my name) (2015), is a VR experience that immerses viewers in a digitized rainforest, inviting reflection on the fragility and interconnectedness of ecosystems. The piece exemplifies his interest in blurring the distinctions between reality and representation, environment and interface.

His formal training in fine arts is reflected in his precise and poetic use of materials, yet his oeuvre consistently transcends the boundaries of traditional media. Through subtle interventions, he creates sensory experiences that question the hierarchies of sight and touch, mind and body, human and non-human.

Steegmann Mangrané has exhibited widely in major international venues, including the 2019 Venice Biennale, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Serpentine Galleries in London, and the São Paulo Biennial. His art often emerges in dialogue with the fields of architecture, anthropology, and environmental studies, forming a body of work that is as intellectually rigorous as it is aesthetically captivating.

To explore more of his work, visit his official website: https://steegmannmangrane.net

Related works in the collection

Daniel Steegmann Mangrané
A Dream Dreaming a Dream Dreaming, 2020

Daniel Steegmann Mangrané ⧜, 2020

Abundant Futures Works from the TBA21 Collection

Treasure of Lima: A Buried Exhibition, 2014