Bosc de Can Ginebreda

Xicu Cabanyes wants to seduce you. And frighten you. And then seduce and frighten you at the same time. A walk deep into his forest of highly sexualized sculptures will leave you horribly offended, spiritually enlightened, or possibly just amused.

Both grotesque and beautiful, the park - which has come to be known as Xicu’s Forest - is an unorthodox fantasy world filled with bizarre sexual statues. Ranging from nudes with backwards body parts, to explicit sculptures depicting sexual acts, the Bosc de Can Ginebreda is an expression of organic symmetry and geometry in nature. Sexual statues share space among the junipers and punctuate the tranquil forest setting.

Along with the sexual tone of most of his work, Cabanyes also incorporated the theme of death into his work, often meshing the themes of sex and decay. One notable statue features a woman’s pained face being surrounded by penises.

Not all of the work is as graphic, and there are more than 100 statues in total. Each was collected by Cabanyes in the forest park over 25 years, slowly building up his strange pornographic statuary.

The park entrance is a few kilometers from Banyoles, two hours north of Barcelona. Although the Bosc de Can Ginebreda is not for the easily offended, Cabanyes’ work will give you something to talk about on a family vacation through Europe.