Miquel Barceló

MIQUEL BARCELÓ (Felanitx, Mallorca, 1957)
"Lampe de bibliotheque".1986.
Etching and color aquatint on paper, copy 11/16.
Signed and numbered by hand.
Measurements: 98 x 50 cm.

Made in 1986, "Lampe de bibliothèque" belongs to one of the most intense moments of Miquel Barceló's graphic production, when the artist explores engraving as a field of experimentation close to painting. The composition, in large vertical format, displays a dynamic structure of superimposed planes, incisive strokes and dense areas of black that evoke fragments of objects -perhaps a lamp, perhaps open books- in an almost claustrophobic space.

Etching and aquatint allow alternating sharp lines with broad tonal stains, generating a constant tension between drawing and matter. The surface is worked with gestural energy: scratches, scratches and accumulations of ink build a vibrant visual framework, where figuration decomposes until it verges on abstraction.

The title suggests an intellectual environment -the library-, but the image imposes itself as a fragmented and visceral vision, characteristic of Barceló's language in the eighties.

Miquel Barceló was trained in Palma de Mallorca and continued his studies in Barcelona, making his debut at the tender age of seventeen. After discovering art brut in Paris, in 1976 he held his first solo exhibition in a museum, at the Museum of Mallorca.

In 1986 he received the Premio Nacional de Artes Plásticas and later the Premio Príncipe de Asturias de las Artes, among other international awards. His work is represented in important museums such as the MoMA in New York, the Centre Pompidou in Paris, the Guggenheim in Bilbao and the Reina Sofia Museum in Madrid, among other institutions of reference.