Miquel Barcelo Returns to the Elvira Gonzalez Gallery

Spain’s most highly prized artist returns to Madrid with “Vida de Pulpo,” an exhibition of previously unseen work that plunges into the marine universe of the Majorcan creator. The show, which includes works on paper, painting and ceramics, will remain in the capital until 30 March.

Tiempo de Vida. Work by Miquel Barcelo. Mixed media on canvas. In InfoArte / fotoLog.

“I would lead the life of an octopus / at night eating crabs and prawns…” Miquel Barcelo’s avowed wish takes shape in the exhibition that will open on 19 January at the Elvira Gonzalez gallery in Madrid. Vida de Pulpo will bring together a selection of previously unseen work by the Majorcan artist, who returns to the capital to display once again a fascinating universe in which the sea, its fauna and the gesture are the leading players. The exhibition will present a total of twenty-nine works: fifteen paintings on canvas, twelve pieces on paper and two ceramics. The works were made over the course of the last two years and have never been shown until now, which makes the exhibition an artistic event of the first order.

Cover of the catalogue of the exhibition Vida de Pulpo – Miquel Barcelo. Elvira Gonzalez Gallery.

The exhibition reflects one of Barcelo’s passions: the sea in all its power, its poetry and its capacity for desolation. The images of marine fauna, the colors (powerful or nuanced) and the boats, so dear to his imagination, appear once again in his recent work: ever present, ever changing. During the time in which he made the works that form part of the exhibition, the artist gradually filled two notebooks with drawings, reflections and poems; the texts are accompanied by a diary that documents the creative process of each piece. All of this material, including reproductions of the works on display, will be published in a catalogue issued by the Elvira Gonzalez gallery. Alongside Vida de Pulpo, visitors will also be able to contemplate other works on paper made by Miquel Barcelo in recent times: illustrations for the Faust published by Galaxia Gutemberg, scenes of bullfighting and self-portraits.

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