Overview
Known for his paintings since the early 1980s, Miquel Barceló developed an early fascination for traditional artistic techniques, as shown by the vast collection of drawings, engravings, bronze sculptures and ceramics dating from 1990 to the present.
On the occasion of "Sol y Sombra", an exhibition by Miquel Barceló organised by the Picasso Museum - Paris and the National Library of France (from 22 March to 28 August 2016), the Thaddaeus Ropac Gallery is pleased to present a selection of the Spanish artist's recent ceramic production.
Known for his paintings since the early 1980s, Miquel Barceló developed an early fascination for traditional artistic techniques, as shown by the vast collection of drawings, engravings, bronze sculptures and ceramics dating from 1990 to the present exhibited by the Picasso Museum and the BNF.
Miquel Barceló's interest in ceramics comes from Mali, land of the Dogons, where the artist has had a studio since the late 1980s. It was on a day when a great windstorm prevented him from painting in the open air that he was introduced to the traditional technique of Dogon ceramics. His taste for this art, which he considers to be on a par with painting, led him to acquire an old brick factory near his home and workshop on his native island of Mallorca. It was there, in Felanitx, that Miquel Barceló has devoted himself in recent years to working on his ceramic work from the land of his region, as his ancestors did before him for centuries.
In Miquel Barceló's artistic production, this medium has become as essential as painting, and has produced emblematic works such as the incredible terracotta panels made for the Palma de Mallorca Cathedral in 2007, or his famous performance entitled "Paso Doble", conceived in collaboration with the Serbian-born French choreographer Josef Nadj for the Avignon Festival in 2006, and performed many times in New York, Madrid, Zurich, Barcelona, Paris, Athens and Mali, as part of a performance dedicated to those who introduced him to the art of ceramics.
The Thaddaeus Ropac Gallery will present eleven new ceramic works by the artist, directly from his Mallorcan studio. These clay sculptures, which mainly represent vases, were shaped by hand by Miquel Barceló, who left his imprints on them before firing them in a kiln at 1100°C. Some of the artist's classic motifs, such as sketches of bulls and sea animals of all kinds, can be found in them.
Miquel Barceló was born in 1957 in Felanitx, on the island of Mallorca, and divides his time between Paris and Mallorca. Deeply influenced by poetry, he exhibited more than 300 drawings illustrating Dante's Divine Comedy at the Louvre Museum in 2004. He also represented Spain at the 53rd Venice Biennale in 2009. In addition, numerous retrospectives of his works have been organised in renowned institutions such as the Centre Pompidou (Paris), the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia (Madrid), and the Museo Rufino Tamayo (Mexico). His works are present in numerous private and public international collections around the world.
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