Miquel Barceló. La Solitude Organisative

By Laia Esquerrà and Xènia Nogué

In November 2010 we went to the Caixa Forum to see Miquel Barceló’s latest exhibition, called La Solitude Organisative, which featured some of his best paintings. We went through the exhibition with a guide who explained the meaning of each painting.

Miquel Barceló is a famous artist born in Felanitx, Mallorca, in 1957. He started studying in the Escuela de Artes Decorativas in Palma, Mallorca, and after that he tried to study Fine Art in Barcelona but he was never able to finish any degree.

Miquel Barceló is the highest earning artist in Spain. He uses many shades of paint, plaster, clay, etc., and has also developed many methods for producing his paintings. He almost always uses a water spout to paint the biggest areas. He sometimes uses a 40 cm paintbrush or walks on the painting. He uses everyday objects, such as like rice, spaghettis, or shoes,. He usually leaves one of the objects he used to make the painting on it. Lately he has been trying to hang up his work and paint from underneath. His most recent work was the Dome of the United Nations in Ginebra.

Miquel Barceló is a figurative artist. Although no clearly defined objects can ever be seen in his painting, there is always something, a desert, a face, a canoe... and all his paintings have a meaning and form part of his life. Miquel Barceló never searches for anything, he finds. He does not start a drawing with any specific idea; he just throws paint on it and waits. He also uses nature to create his paintings. Sometimes he dips paintings in the sea or leaves them out to be modified by insects...