Miquel Barceló’s performance art is known for an aesthetic that is half-way between Altamira cave paintings and graffiti, in which the artist evokes the Buddhist notion of impermanence with an audiovisual and painted display in which drawings disappear as if by magic. After being performed for the first time at Musée Picasso Paris, as well as other iconic venues in Bangkok, Kyoto, Salamanca and Zurich, Miquel Barceló is now presenting two performances in Málaga of “Despintura Fònica” (Phonic Unpainting). Fleeting, delicate and unpredictable, like a playful elegy to art, the show takes place at 8.00 p.m. on 18th and 19th June, in the courtyard of Museo de Málaga.

In this artistic event, Barceló will be accompanied by French musician Pascal Comelade in the creation of an ephemeral artwork that volatilizes and vanishes before the audience’s eyes at the same time as it is created.

“We are always seeing things appear, but we don’t see them disappear, and the truth is that it’s very hygienic”, Barceló explains. As he controls and loses control over his brushstrokes on a large-format canvas made from a special material that absorbs paint, we hear musical improvisations by Comelade. This French- Catalan musician, who is widely known in both France and Japan, creates avant-garde music in which his roots are very much present. In the first half, Miquel Barceló will create drawings in water using brushes, balls, and water pistols. In the second half, the audience will watch, alongside the artist, the gradual disappearance before their very eyes of the work he has just created, to a background of vibrant music.

Tickets for this event in the Museo de Málaga courtyard are free and must be requested online at www.museopicassomalaga.org. The running time is approximately 30 minutes. Both sessions have a limited number of seats and will be held in compliance with all current health regulations.

The “Clay Speaks” project and the screening of “Sea Art. Miquel Barceló”

Taking advantage of his visit to Málaga, Miquel Barceló will be participating in an activity for people at risk of social vulnerability, held on Friday 18th June at 11.00 a.m. in Museo Picasso Málaga. “Clay Speaks” is a project based on the temporary exhibition Miquel Barceló. Metamorphosis, organized thanks to the collaboration of Fundación la Caixa. Participants will get to know about the pottery process by handling clay and exploring shapes, textures, and colours. The resulting works will become part of this project, which is being held to encourage social participation in the artistic environment.

Barceló transcribes his close relationship with the sea through his works. On Saturday, 19th June at 12 noon, The Other Museum will be hosting a screening of «Sea Art. Miquel Barceló», which dives into the private universe of an artist with two constants in his life: his art and the sea. In the silence of the deep, Miquel Barceló pays a powerful tribute to nature, shows his love for the sea and its creatures, and talks about his early activism and his various battles against urbanisation on his home island of Mallorca. He also looks at the issue of overfishing and the massacre of marine animals that are becoming extinct. “Sea Art Miquel Barceló” is one episode of a documentary series on oceans, the sea and art. In collaboration with Fundación Almine y Bernard Picasso (FABA), this 22’ film is directed by Maud Baignères, based on an original idea by Marion Semblat, with photography by Balthazar Morvan and Agustí Torres and music by Mathieu Blanc-Francard and Pascal Armand.