Miquel Barceló Ébauche pour zèbre espadon, 2022

Miquel Barceló’s practice is influenced by his Mallorcan surroundings, as well as his profound knowledge of the history of art. Ébauche pour zèbre espadon (Sketch for a Swordfish Zebra, 2022) belongs to his most recent series of still lifes. Primarily rendered in hues of pink, red, yellow or grey with white accents, the works from this series are a variation on the art historical tradition of grisaille painting and typically have a looser composition than the artist’s previous still lifes.
The painting presents the unlikely pairing of a reclined zebra with a swordfish in what Barceló describes as ‘a combination as bizarre as the mixture of rum and coke. It’s obvious that both elements are alive and well.’ The artist took an improvisational approach to creating the work, noting, at one point, ‘I stopped in my tracks. On instinct, I didn’t even draw the zebra stripes. Sometimes these pauses work. Most of the time they don’t. Sometimes the charcoal is already a painting.’
A solo exhibition of a new body of work by the artist, Grisailles, is currently onview at Thaddaeus Ropac, Paris Pantin from 8 October 2022  until 7 January 2023.