Miquel Barceló, Life of Octopus. Painting, paper, ceramics
19/01/2019.
Galería Elvira González [MAD] Spain 19.01 > 30.03.2019
metalocus, ÁNGEL TORNE
metalocus, ÁNGEL TORNE
Today, January 19th, Elvira González Gallery opened today its second solo show of the Spanish artist Miquel Barceló. The exhibition will have 29 new works of which fifteen are canvases, twelve are works on paper and two ceramics. All these works have been made in the past two years and are shown to the public for the first time.
Pudding, 2018. 30,6 x 44,6 cm. Mixed media on paper. Image courtesy of Galería Elvira González
Tiempo de vida, 2018. 130 x 161 cm. Mixed media on canvas. Image courtesy of Galería Elvira González
Cala Gran 2018 192,5 x 270 cm. Mixed media on canvas. Image courtesy of Galería Elvira González
Ora prima, 2018. 50 x 65 cm. Mixed media on canvas. Image courtesy of Galería Elvira González
Hiperbòlic, 2018. 218 x 269 cm. Mixed media on canvas. Image courtesy of Galería Elvira González
View of room. Octopus Life Exhibition by Miquel Barceló. Elvira González Gallery
View of room. Octopus Life Exhibition by Miquel Barceló. Elvira González Gallery
Poster. Octopus Life Exhibition by Miquel Barceló. Elvira González Gallery
Life of Octopus is the title chosen by Barceló and refers to his deep link with the sea, its nature and wildlife, and with the relationship between humans and the seas. A romantic and desolate vision. An unsettling stormy sea that seems to relate to the moment we currently live in. Some boats with people and some empty ones lost in the sea. A large multicoloured octopus of two meters presides over one of the exhibition rooms.
I'd lead a life of octopus.
At night eating crabs and prawnsInside the barracks in the morning light,
I would hardly ever go to the Ciutat, or to mass, or to the
Marketplace.
All day long I wouldn't do a thing, I'd observe the shell collections of hairy crabs and limpets.
I would watch out for brunettes while entertaining myself watching a sip of suspended ink, lush (circumspect) always about to project a definitive black spittle and end any conversation
Notebook Alchi, Bangkok, París, Mallorca, Delhi, 2018. Miquel Barceló.
The exhibition will show other subjects in which Barceló has recently worked as drawings of Goethe's book Faust, images of bullfighters and some classic stories and self-portraits.
On the occasion of Life of Octopus, a catalogue has been published by the gallery which, in addition to the works on show, will feature images from two notebooks that Miquel Barceló produced as he painted the works in the show. These notebooks as diaries, note the evolution of some paintings and also collect Barceló's thoughts that range from everyday subjects and daily obligations to thoughts of philosophical and poetic nature.
More information
Dates
From January 19 to March 30, 2019. Opening hours to the public: Monday to Friday from 10:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. and Saturdays from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
Venue
Galería Elvira González. C/ Hermanos Álvarez Quintero, 1. Madrid. Spain
Miquel Barceló
Miquel Barceló (Felanitx, Mallorca, 1957) started painting at a very early age thanks to his mother, Francisca Artigues, who loved to paint, and with whom Miquel shared this passion. He attended the Escola d’Arts i Oficis in Palma in 1972 and do his first solo show in 1974 at Galería Picarol (Majorca).
He began his studies of Fine Arts in Barcelona in 1975, but he quit to start his own pictorical career independently. He first received international recognition when he participated in the São Paulo Art Biennial in 1981 and in Documenta VII in Kassel in 1982, at the age of 25. Since then, his works lead him to become a model for contemporary artists who links his practice to the strong tradition of Western painting since the Baroque movement.
Living between Paris and Majorca, since the mid 80s, he's been travelling to West Africa on trips which have nourished his myths and figures. Since the beginning of the 80s, his works have been included in the most prestigious exhibitions, making him one of the most outstanding Spanish artists in the international scene. He has been exhibited solo shows in art relevant institutions like CAPC (Bourdeaux), IVAM (Valencia), Musée du Jeu de Paume , Centre Pompidou, Musée des Arts Décoratifs and Museé du Louvre (Paris), Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna (Roma), Museu d'Art Contemporani (Barcelona) and Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía (Madrid), among many others
In the last decades he has made large scale interventions like the one in Sant Pere’s Chapel in Majorca, which he covered with clay and the dome of Hall XX of the United Nations palace in Geneva. In 1986, he received Spain’s National Fine Arts Award and in 2003, he was awarded the Prince of Asturias Award for the Arts in Spain. He was the Spanish representative at the Venice Biennial Pavillion in 2009.
Miquel Barceló was included, at an early stage, in an expressionist movement that aimed to recover the practice of painting, to which he added his personal Mediterranean style. His first mature works were focused on the artist intimacy and in the pure act of painting. Later on he has enlarged his subjects to still lifes and images of libraries and museums in which he reflects an interest in the history of painting, as well as in landscapes overcrowded with flowers and animals, both from sea and earth. His work encompasses different media such as painting, sculpture and ceramics.
Also his drawings attire an special attention, arranged as travel diaries in which, in the meantime, he explores the land and the painting tools. One of his latest projects is Vivarium, in which he deeply explores the marine imaginarium that comes to life thanks to the hands of his mother Francisca Artigues and her embroideries.
He began his studies of Fine Arts in Barcelona in 1975, but he quit to start his own pictorical career independently. He first received international recognition when he participated in the São Paulo Art Biennial in 1981 and in Documenta VII in Kassel in 1982, at the age of 25. Since then, his works lead him to become a model for contemporary artists who links his practice to the strong tradition of Western painting since the Baroque movement.
Living between Paris and Majorca, since the mid 80s, he's been travelling to West Africa on trips which have nourished his myths and figures. Since the beginning of the 80s, his works have been included in the most prestigious exhibitions, making him one of the most outstanding Spanish artists in the international scene. He has been exhibited solo shows in art relevant institutions like CAPC (Bourdeaux), IVAM (Valencia), Musée du Jeu de Paume , Centre Pompidou, Musée des Arts Décoratifs and Museé du Louvre (Paris), Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna (Roma), Museu d'Art Contemporani (Barcelona) and Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía (Madrid), among many others
In the last decades he has made large scale interventions like the one in Sant Pere’s Chapel in Majorca, which he covered with clay and the dome of Hall XX of the United Nations palace in Geneva. In 1986, he received Spain’s National Fine Arts Award and in 2003, he was awarded the Prince of Asturias Award for the Arts in Spain. He was the Spanish representative at the Venice Biennial Pavillion in 2009.
Miquel Barceló was included, at an early stage, in an expressionist movement that aimed to recover the practice of painting, to which he added his personal Mediterranean style. His first mature works were focused on the artist intimacy and in the pure act of painting. Later on he has enlarged his subjects to still lifes and images of libraries and museums in which he reflects an interest in the history of painting, as well as in landscapes overcrowded with flowers and animals, both from sea and earth. His work encompasses different media such as painting, sculpture and ceramics.
Also his drawings attire an special attention, arranged as travel diaries in which, in the meantime, he explores the land and the painting tools. One of his latest projects is Vivarium, in which he deeply explores the marine imaginarium that comes to life thanks to the hands of his mother Francisca Artigues and her embroideries.
