Katharina Grosse presents a large installation in La Llotja

erman artist Katharina Grosse transforms La Llotja with “Arrels,” a colourful installation that merges painting and sculpture in new ways. Co-produced by the Government of the Balearic Islands and Es Baluard Museum, and curated by David Barro, “Arrels” (Roots, in Catalan), opened on May 27 and runs until January 31, 2027. “Arrels” is likely the most vibrant installation the building has likely seen in its six centuries of standing on the harbour's edge.

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Built between 1420 and 1452 by the Mallorcan master Guillem Sagrera, La Llotja was the headquarters of the Col·legi de la Mercaderia, the merchants' guild that powered the island's Mediterranean trade. In recent years, the building has become a space for contemporary art. Its stunning gothic architecture, including large swirling stone columns and high vaulted arches, have become the background for projects by artists including Jaume Plensa, who installed his towering, ghostlike mesh figures in 2024, and before him Julian Opie and Pedro Cabrita Reis.

Katharina Grosse, Arrels, 2026. Courtesy of Es Baluard Museu. Photo: Bruno Daureo. © of the work of art, Katharina Grosse, VEGAP, Illes Balears, 2026

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atharina Grosse is an artist known for pushing the boundaries of contemporary painting, literally taking it off the canvas and into the streets, landscape or architecture. She doesn't distinguish between wall, floor, sculpture and architecture — for her, all of it is paint waiting to happen. She has sprayed colour across landscapes, buildings and even a beached fishing boat in North Carolina; this is an artist for whom scale itself is a material. In La Llotja, she has placed a massive tree on its side, its roots splaying upwards. The tree is surrounded by mounds of soil which have been spray painted in a bold array of colours including a bright orange, royal blue, hot pink, acid yellow and more. The painting continues onto the floor around the tree and soil, as if the colours have oozed out from them and have puddled and dried. Katharina Grosse explains: “The container and the work are completely one thing, accessible from all sides. It’s almost as if something is within something is within something. This doubling is interesting to me. I don’t think I’ve ever shown it as clearly.”

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There is a double meaning in the title “Arrels” (Roots), both referring to the tree itself, but also, as David Barro, the Director of Es Baluard explains, “Her work engages with the roots of painting: color, scale, and composition. The result is an experience that exceeds the traditional limits of the artwork to become an environment that is inhabited and traversed.”

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Although probably unintended by the artist, it was hard not to consider the realities of climate change and shifting landscapes, toxic overflows or uprooted forests when walking through the installation. There was something a bit haunting or unsettling seeing the tree on its side, sprayed with colour, the walls of the historic building act like a sanctuary for this colourful relic. This is the beauty of hosting exhibitions in La Llotja, which merges with the contemporary to create a space of unexpected connections and imagination.

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“Arrels” is on view at La Llotja through January 31, 2027.

“The container and the work are completely one thing, accessible from all sides. It’s almost as if something is within something is within something. This doubling is interesting to me. I don’t think I’ve ever shown it as clearly.”