b. 1957 in Felanitx (Mallorca), Spain
Lives and works in Paris, Mallorca and Mali
Barceló is working across a wide range of mediums, including paintings, works on paper, ceramic, and bronze. Across this diverse body of work, there are several recurring themes. He has continued to be fascinated by the natural world, creating richly textured canvases that recall the earthly materiality of Catalan painters such as Antoni Tàpies and Joan Miró, as well as compositions that study the effects of light and the ever-changing colours of the sea. He has also explored the history and traditions of painting, exploring the medium’s traditional subjects and technical challenges through his experimentation with the treatment of light, colour, perspective, and composition. While he has produced paintings, drawings, ceramics, and cast iron structures, he is most frequently classified as
an International Neo-Expressionist, as he favors recognizable subjects rendered in an expressive, gestural manner. An interest in decomposition, metamorphosis, and the passage of time drives Barcelo’s art, which includes boxes filled with decaying food and pale, fleshy canvases inspired by the rugged terrain of the Sahara Desert.
Retrospectives have been organized at renowned institutions such as the Centre Pompidou, Paris, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid and the Museo Rufino Tamayo, Mexico, as well as solo exhibitions at the Galerie National Jeu de Paume, Paris, Whitechapel, London, Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna, Rome, Musée du Louvre, Paris, and the Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin. His work is included in international public and private collections around the world.
