Untitled [plate XLVII] 1958

This untitled plate by Joan Miró is built from a vocabulary of coloured gestures. Look at the way the marks aren’t precious, but kinda clunky and raw. I can imagine Miró in his studio, testing out a combination of shapes and colours, and seeing what felt right. The painting has these basic forms: the circle, the line. How do we arrange them? What happens if the red circle hangs in the balance with the yellow and green slashes? The blue is heavier, down below, while the little red dot is weightless. In a way it feels like a balancing act - Miró composing the elements, pushing and pulling, until they find their place. It's a conversation that artists have been having for centuries, with so much openness and play. Painting lets us be uncertain and find our own way to understanding.