Barcelona is back in the frame for Miquel Barceló, with the Mallorcan artist opening his first gallery show in the city in 36 years. The exhibition, Miquel Barceló. Engravings from Barcelona. 2010-2026, opened on Thursday 11 June at Galeria Artur Ramon on Carrer de Bailèn.
The show brings together 30 engravings and three artist’s books made in Barcelona between 2010 and 2026. Barceló said his long absence from Barcelona galleries was linked to years of travel, major international projects and the death of his gallerist Salvador Riera in 1994. He also said no other gallerist had asked him to exhibit, and that he prefers painting to showing work.
At the press conference, Barceló described engraving as part of his painting practice rather than a way to make editions. He said he is not interested in large print runs, and that his engravings are usually made in very small numbers. He also said the medium appeals to him because of its physical quality, with relief and volume, and compared that to ceramics.
Barceló has worked with Joan Roma’s workshop in Barcelona since 2012. Roma is one of Spain’s best-known engravers and has worked with Antoni Tàpies, among other artists. Barceló said Enrique Juncosa introduced them, and that he has only worked on engraving in Barcelona with Roma. The collaboration has run in two main periods, 2010 to 2012 and 2024 to 2026.
The exhibition includes 35 previously unshown engravings, which Barceló said represent half of his total output in this period. It also includes three self-portraits and works using woodcut, drypoint, etching, aquatint and direct acid. Recurring themes include marine subjects, African landscapes, vanitas images, plants, animals and other motifs, including octopuses made using a chainsaw. Some works from the 2015 Lletraferits series are also included, with portraits of writers such as Miquel Bauçà, Joan Vinyoli, Gérard de Nerval and Vladimir Nabokov.
Three artist’s books are on display too. Two were completed in 2026, including Dins la panxa del bou, with eight feline engravings, and Sobre la apariencia de las cosas, which includes poems by Enrique Juncosa and has a limited edition of 30 copies. The third, El bestiari de Guillaume Apollinaire, dates from 2025 and was published in Paris by Yvon Lambert. Photographs by Jean Marie del Moral, showing Barceló at work in his studio, complete the display.
Outside Barcelona, Barceló has finished drawings for large tapestries for the rebuilt Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, which are now being woven. He is also waiting for a decision from the Sagrada Família committees, where he is one of three artists who submitted a project for the Glory Façade. The choice, first expected in June, is now due in the autumn. For more Barcelona arts coverage, see Community and Sport.
Originally published by VilaWeb Feed. Read original article.
