He was one of the most internationally renowned contemporary Spanish sculptors. He trained at the School of Fine Arts in Barcelona and in the workshop of sculptor Casanovas. Between 1954 and 1956, he lived in Belgium, where he became acquainted with the avant-garde of the time. Upon his return to Barcelona, he created sculptures for urban areas and public buildings, utilizing iron, concrete, wood, and stone, while his style evolved towards an abstract language.

In his work, Subirachs synthesized technique and meticulousness in materials and textures with the desire to communicate and express a symbolic and transcendental language. This was achieved through the creation of his own universe of iconographic references, making his output a personal and distinctive body of work recognized worldwide. From 1967 onwards, he decisively embraced figuration, though without abandoning a certain abstract sensibility, and delved into the dialectic of positive-negative, concave-convex, or painting-sculpture.

In 1986, he received an extraordinary commission: the creation of the sculptural groups for the Passion Façade of the Sagrada Família temple in Barcelona, the emblematic work of the architectural genius Antoni Gaudí. Subirachs dedicated almost twenty years (1987-2005) to this ensemble. In 2005, he completed his work for the Sagrada Família, which consisted of over one hundred figures sculpted in stone and four bronze doors, characterized by a figurative and dramatic expressionism.

Subirachs expressed himself not only through three-dimensional creation but also through other techniques such as painting, drawing, graphic work, tapestry, book illustration, medal minting, and the design of jewelry and utilitarian objects.