At a glance
From Tupac Shakur to a Los Angeles housing project, Dana Lixenberg photographs fame and marginality with the same patient, unsensational gaze.
Why go
This is the first major travelling retrospective devoted to the Dutch photographer, bringing together more than three decades of work made principally in the United States. Rather than offering a single portrait of America, Lixenberg places cultural icons alongside residents of communities routinely overlooked by mainstream media.
The real attraction is the continuity of her vision. Whether photographing a celebrity on assignment or returning to the same neighbourhood over 22 years, she creates remarkably calm encounters in which social status seems temporarily suspended.
You'll see
Portraits of cultural figures, including Lixenberg’s celebrated 1993 image of Tupac Shakur.
Imperial Courts, begun in the aftermath of the 1992 Los Angeles unrest. Lixenberg repeatedly returned to the Watts housing project, photographing its residents with a large-format camera over more than two decades.
Jeffersonville, Indiana, examining homelessness, place and the social landscape of a Midwestern town.
Shishmaref, Alaska, centred on an Inupiaq community living on an island increasingly threatened by erosion and climate change.
Polaroids and working material that reveal the preparation, selection and trust behind the finished portraits.
Pace of visit
This is a substantial retrospective rather than a 30-minute exhibition.
Artlovers Tip
Begin with the best-known celebrity portrait, then spend time with Imperial Courts before returning to it. The second viewing makes clear that Lixenberg applies essentially the same visual grammar—stillness, frontal attention and respect—to every sitter.
For the most economical visit, go on a non-holiday Tuesday, when admission is normally free. The included English audioguide is useful for distinguishing the different long-term projects.
Inside the exhibition
Meet the artist
Description
American Images constructs a multilayered portrait of the United States through photographs made across more than 30 years. Its America is neither exclusively glamorous nor purely marginalised. Public figures, housing-project residents, landscapes and small-town communities occupy the same visual field.
Lixenberg’s large-format camera is essential to this effect. It requires preparation and stillness, replacing the photographer’s quick capture with a slower, more visible negotiation between artist and subject. The resulting images feel direct but never invasive.
Time is another of the exhibition’s principal materials. In projects such as Imperial Courts, the repeated visits transform individual photographs into a collective record of survival, change and memory. Lixenberg began photographing the Los Angeles community in 1993 and continued returning for 22 years, working collaboratively with its residents.
Presented jointly by Fundación MAPFRE and the Maison Européenne de la Photographie, the retrospective is curated by Laurie Hurwitz and Marcel Feil.
Dana Lixenberg was born in Amsterdam in 1964 and developed her career between Europe and the United States. She studied photography in London and Amsterdam before becoming known for editorial portraits distinguished by their sparse settings and psychological concentration.
In 2017, Imperial Courts received the Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize, confirming Lixenberg’s importance within contemporary documentary and portrait photography.
Worth travelling for?
This is likely to be one of Barcelona’s strongest photography exhibitions of autumn 2026. Its achievement lies less in individual celebrity portraits than in the conversation created between them and Lixenberg’s sustained studies of American communities.
Do not expect theatrical staging or rapid visual gratification. The exhibition’s power is quiet, cumulative and occasionally uncomfortable. Visitors attracted principally by famous faces may be surprised to discover that the long-term social projects form its emotional centre.
Dana Lixenberg. American Images
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