MIQUEL BARCELÓ ARTIGUES (Felanitx, Mallorca, 1957). "Chien... Lot 43

MIQUEL BARCELÓ ARTIGUES (Felanitx, Mallorca, 1957). "Chien sous la pluie", 1984. Lithograph (diptych) on paper, copy 21/100. Signed and justified in pencil. Measurements: 93 x 68 cm; 107 x 81 cm (frame). Diptych formed by two pieces that reflect each other, showing the figure of the dog of the reflection mostly decomposed through the texture and the suggestion of the earth wet by the rain. The earthy and dark tones create a melancholic atmosphere. The image of the lonely dog in the rain is intense and highly sensitive. Painter and sculptor, Barceló began his training at the School of Arts and Crafts in Palma de Mallorca, where he studied between 1972 and 1973. In 1974 he made his individual debut, at the age of seventeen, at the Picarol Gallery in Mallorca. That same year he moved to Barcelona, where he enrolled at the Sant Jordi School of Fine Arts, and made his first trip to Paris. In the French capital he discovers the work of Paul Klee, Fautrier, Wols and Dubuffet, as well as the "art brut", a style that will exert an important influence on his first paintings. During these years he reads extensively, and enriches himself with works as diverse as the writings of Breton and the surrealists, the "White Manifesto" by Lucio Fontana or the "Social History of Literature and Art" by Arnold Hauser. In 1976 he held his first solo exhibition in a museum: "Cadaverina 15" at the Museum of Mallorca, consisting of a montage of 225 wooden boxes with glass lids, with decomposing organic materials inside. That same year, back in Mallorca, he joined the Taller Lunàtic group and took part in its social, political and cultural events. In 1977 he makes a second trip to Paris, and also visits London and Amsterdam. That same year he exhibits for the first time in Barcelona, and meets Javier Mariscal, who will become one of his best friends in the city. Together with him and the photographer Antoni Catany he participates, as a member of the group "Neón de Suro", in exhibitions in Canada and California, and collaborates with the publication of the magazine of the same name.