Andrés Rivas Rodís (Santiago de Compostela, 2000) is the artist selected in the ArtLab IGFAE Residencies, promoted by the Instituto Galego de Física de Altas Enerxías, a joint centre of the USC and the Xunta de Galicia, and the Fundación Cidade da Cultura. His project Otro y sobre sí will be developed from early 2026 at the IGFAE and Cidade da Cultura facilities and will be exhibited in the Gaiás museum towards the end of next year.
Rivas Rodís’s proposal will explore the concept of superposition—a fundamental topic in quantum theory and computing—from the perspective of the visual arts. Superposition describes the ability of particles, such as electrons or photons, to possess two or more states, which implies that they have, at the same time, the probability of being in two places or moving in two opposite directions. This applies to quantum computers, which use the qubit as the unit of information, an element that can represent 0, 1 or both states at once, allowing for a huge number of calculations almost instantaneously.
The project selection committee, made up of representatives from the Fundación Cidade da Cultura and the IGFAE, together with professionals from the field of artistic creation and research and experts in collaboration between art and science, unanimously chose this project from among the thirty initiatives submitted to this first edition of the residency.
From early 2026, the artist will work in the IGFAE facilities, immersing himself in the daily practice of a research centre, and receiving scientific and artistic tutoring and guidance. Afterwards, he will complete his stay at the Cidade da Cultura, taking advantage of the spaces, technical resources and human team of the Gaiás to advance towards the public presentation of his work. During this time, he will also benefit from accommodation in a university residence and will receive a contribution of 8,000 euros.
Andrés Rivas Rodís
A graduate in Fine Arts from the Universitat Politècnica de València (2022) and holder of a master’s degree in Research and Creation in Art from the University of the Basque Country (2024), Andrés Rivas Rodís (Santiago de Compostela, 2000) is currently pursuing his doctorate at the University of Vigo.
In recent years, he has received regional and national recognition, such as the XIV Auditorio de Galicia Prize for Emerging Artists (2025), the SWAB Best Emerging Artist Award (2025) or the granting of the Cátedra Bodegas Faustino & Willy Ramos for a stay in Paris in 2022. He was also selected for various national residencies such as the Residencias Artísticas Celestino Cuevas (Reinosa, 2025), where he developed the project Contacto, contorno, or the 11th Artistic Creation and Research Residency (Museu de la Universitat d’Alacant, 2025), with the project Ad’dad. El engaño de la ortiga. He also took part in the Encuentro de Artistas Nuevos EAN11 at the Cidade da Cultura in 2021.
He has exhibited his work in galleries and cultural spaces in the Basque Country, Valencia and Galicia, as well as in the group exhibition Territorio Contemporánea (Sala ABANCA, Santiago de Compostela, 2025). His work is present in public and private collections such as that of Piramidón, Centre d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona, the Colección Norte of the Government of Cantabria, the Fundación Campocerrado, KELLS Art Collection, the MANGO Art Collection, the Juntas Generales de Bizkaia and the Museu de la Universitat d’Alacant.
ArtLab IGFAE Residencies
The first edition of the ArtLab IGFAE Residencies was created with the aim of weaving connections between particle physics research and contemporary Galician creation and falls within the support lines for creation of the Gaiás Artistic Residencies programme (REGA).
In the case of the IGFAE, the residency initiative is part of the desire to structure and direct its scientific work toward more responsible research and innovation (RRI, Responsible Research & Innovation) with society and its immediate environment.
After the IGFAE achieved for the first time the accreditation as a María de Maeztu Unit of Excellence in 2017, the IGFAE Labs were launched, with three lines of action: in the field of education (EduLab), technology transfer (TechLab) and the arts (ArtLab).
The latter is a place for dialogue between art and science, in which IGFAE research staff establish links with external collaborators, proposing and developing new ideas and building bridges between physics and different artistic expressions. In this way, the ArtLab seeks to foster reflection, imagination and creative thinking.
Under the umbrella of ArtLab emerged exhibition projects such as Cosmoloxías (with Irene Dubrovsky, Pazo de Fonseca, 2019) and Instrumentos de visión (with Armin Linke, Mónica Bello and Arts at CERN, Iglesia de la Universidad, 2024), as well as cycles such as Transfronterizas (since 2020).
