- Eleni Kyriacou
MIRO'S CONSTELLATIONS AT ACQUAVELLA GALLERIES NEW YORK
Well, I don’t know that all the great words in the world can do justice to the ‘Constellations’ by Miro, but I shall try! Where do I start?
Miro painted these works during WWII in desperate, troubled times. He painted them in secret gazing upon starry, infinite skies above. This truly was an artist in escapism and with hope and optimism in his heart, as for me there is no sense of anything troubling when I look at these pieces, quite the opposite: I look at them smiling.
I escape into the infinite skies alongside Miro and allow him to show me what lies in the realms of his unstoppable imagination. I follow his signature strings that slice trough forms like rolling beads and in the line’s path define a chromatic Yin Yang state. Only Miro knows the rules but if you pay attention he is happy to show you. He’ll show you that this rule doesn’t just apply to his starry strings but to every shape that overlaps onto another: contact between shapes creating an inversion of colour. The result? Rhythm, rhythm, rhythm: chromatic rhythm and compositional rhythm. Starry pictoral songs filling a fluid starry night.
His dazzling forms painted with complete love, are set against the shadows of his wash hinting at the universe beyond and thus the sheer mystery and enigma at the notion of what is infinite? And how can something be infinite? Will we ever understand our skies and the universe? And in this nocturnal vision therein lies all the wonders of the world we know, not just the wonders of our galaxies: the human form: in silhouette, in isolated detail, in gesture, in humoured reference; and creatures that are neither human nor marine life, nor animals, nor insects, nor plants but hybrids and amalgamations and quite simply creations of Miro – perhaps they are friendly aliens light years away..
However, I think it is more likely that they are something else. I believe as Miro wishes on a star or two he wishes for utopia here on earth, for a time of peace and harmony between all living things, all species interbreeding and cross-pollinating and that’s why we have these wondrous creatures floating before us, perhaps they are his vision: metaphoric future evidence of what comes of natural life in a time of peace, between men and between man and our natural habitat. A time of fluid borders, colours united and shared territories - what he paints. In his world crosses can share a home with crescents, that can share a home with a star. No walls between! Isn’t the entire notion of Yin Yang about opposites (traditionally genders) living in harmony with one another? Isn’t that the story of how he paints? Isn’t this his only true rule? - That for there to be rhythm, joy and harmony, opposites must unite and become one. How boring would a dot be if it was entirely red or entirely black all the time, and always the same size? Isn’t a chromatic cocktail so much more exciting? Aren’t people more exciting too when they are cultural, ethnic and genetic cocktails? When we look at a venn diagram what unites the 2 forms is the part that is shared in common. Isn’t there always a part that we have in common with another human? Maybe it is just a tiny overlap, and maybe that tiny amount creates the most beautiful connection.
A detail example of a cross, a crescent and a star. Symbols of 3 of the world's main religions.
A detail example of what appears to be masculine and feminine body parts, some being ambiguous and thus a play on gender fluidity
Don't the constellations themselves represents the need in man for a spiritual science in the creation of astrology, to find what we may all have in common under any given sign and therefore to unite us? But also celebrate our differences in nature? Aren't the constellations born from the human need to understand, group, map, define and unite? To understand man's complexities by exploring the universe for a profound understanding based on our relationship with our solar-system's planets and their energies. It is as though in each work Miro dives into a different constellation and discovers a different character, mood and energy that commands him in each case: some works are more dense with form, other less so, colour palettes vary in each piece too, the choice of form varies as well, the narrative changes in every instance too and so on and so forth creating a different visual cosmic song inspired by every constellation.
