Details
MIQUEL BARCELÓ (b. 1957)
PRSPCTV
signed, titled and dated '11.06 PRSPCTV. Barceló.' (on the reverse)
mixed media on canvas
3178 x 3938in. (81 x 100cm.)
Executed in 2006
Provenance
Galerie Bruno Bischofberger, Zurich.
Acquired from the above by the present owner.
Exhibited
Zurich, Galerie Bruno Bischofberger, Miquel Barceló. Recent Works, 2009.
Special notice
Artist's Resale Right ("Droit de Suite"). Artist's Resale Right Regulations 2006 apply to this lot, the buyer agrees to pay us an amount equal to the resale royalty provided for in those Regulations, and we undertake to the buyer to pay such amount to the artist's collection agent.
These lots have been imported from outside the EU or, if the UK has withdrawn from the EU without an agreed transition deal, from outside of the UK for sale and placed under the Temporary Admission regime. Import VAT is payable at 5% on the hammer price. VAT at 20% will be added to the buyer’s premium but will not be shown separately on our invoice.
Please note this lot is the property of a consumer. See H1 of the Conditions of Sale.
Brought to you by

Lot Essay

Barceló was deeply influenced by his extensive travels during the ‘80s, none more so than in West Africa, where he frequently returned to live for long stints of time. Here he could reflect on the slow-paced passing of time under harsh desert conditions, blinding sunlight, and barren, rocky landscapes. Enchanted by such extremities of circumstance, he noted how ‘The light in the desert is so intense that things disappear, and the shadows are more intense than the things themselves’ (M. Barceló quoted in Miquel Barceló: Obra sobre papel 1979-1999, exh. cat., Madrid 1999, p. iv).

With its subtly variegated tones and thoughtfully textured surface, there is a dream-like tranquillity to Barceló’s works; the poetic flow of time and memory. Engaging the viewer through a powerful physicality of richly textured surface, Barceló combines oil paint with organic matter to present a visceral world that speaks to our most raw and primal instincts. The artist has been known to use rice, almonds, beans, and volcanic ash mixed with paint to create irregularities in the surface that speak to both his desert muse and the archaeological articles that make up his subject matter.

Related Articles

Sorry, we are unable to display this content. Please check your connection.

More from
First Open: Post-War and Contemporary Art Online
Place your bid Condition report

A Christie's specialist may contact you to discuss this lot or to notify you if the condition changes prior to the sale.

I confirm that I have read this Important Notice regarding Condition Reports and agree to its terms. View Condition Report