Miguel Berrocal

MIGUEL ORTIZ BERROCAL (Villanueva de Algaidas, Málaga, 1933 - Antequera, Málaga, 2006)
"Siextasis - Hommage a Picasso", 1976.
Tin, copy 87/2000.
Signed and justified.
Attached instruction book.
Measurements: 18 x 21 x 10,5 cm (with base).

"Siextasis" is one of the most complex and conceptually rich works of Miguel Berrocal, where the sculptor takes to the limit his research on the fragmented form, the assembly and the active participation of the spectator.

Conceived as a dismountable sculpture, the work is presented as a dense network of intertwined curvilinear volumes, almost organic, reminiscent of human limbs as well as chains, knots or bodies in tension. Among these forms appear faces and anatomical fragments hidden and revealed depending on the point of view or the degree of disassembly, establishing a continuous play between figuration and abstraction.

The title alludes to a state of exaltation or trance, reinforced by the sensation of internal movement and contained energy that the piece transmits. The homage to Picasso is manifested both in the cubist decomposition of the body and in the accumulation of simultaneous points of view, evoking Picasso's language from a three-dimensional and mechanical reading.

As in other key works by the artist, the instruction book is an essential part of the project: disassembling and reassembling the sculpture reveals an internal architecture as important as its external appearance. This process transforms the work into an intellectual experience, where the sculpture is "read" and understood through action.

Berrocal has exhibited in Italy, France, Germany, Spain and the United States, received the gold medal of the Bronze of Padua, the grand prize of honor at the Brazil Biennial, and was named Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters by the French government. He has sculptures in public places in Korea, Bordeaux, Denmark and Switzerland, as well as in various parts of Spain. He is represented in the Museums of Modern Art in New York and Paris, the Olympic Museum in Lausanne, the Kunsthalle in Hamburg, the Juan March Foundation in Madrid, the National Gallery in Rome and the Victoria & Albert Museum in London.