EAST HAMPTON, NY.- The LongHouse Reserve hosts the exhibition of internationally renowned artist Miquel Barceló: Clay and Bronze. Art historian Dore Ashton has selected 19 ceramic and 5 bronze sculptures from Mr. Barceló’s private collection for the exhibition.
Miquel Barceló was born in Felantix, Majorca in 1957. In the early eighties, he began to exhibit his works in the most important museums and galleries of Europe and the United States and has become one of the most highly revered Spanish artists on the international scene. In 1996 Barceló began to experiment with traditional techniques for working with terracotta and ceramics. The artist continued to work intensively with ceramics, often producing large pieces he then cast in bronze. Barceló’s work has been the subject of retrospective exhibitions at several preeminent museums including: the Musee d’art contemporian, Bordeaux; the Institut Valencia d’Art Modern; the Jeu de Paume and the Georges Pompidou Centre in Paris; the Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona; the Museo Nacional Reina Sofia in Madrid; the Louvre in Paris and the Museo d’Arte Moderna de Lugano in Italy. In 2003, Barcelo received the Prince of Asturias price for Plastic Arts.
Dore Ashton says the following about Mr. Barceló: “Miquel Barceló regards his work with clay as an extension of his painting. The fifty-year-old artist, having just inaugurated his spectacular ceramic chapel in the imposing cathedral of Palma de Mallorca this year, continues working with clay, creating sculptured polychrome vessels, creatures from an imaginary bestiary, and free-standing sculptures rendered in bronze. Barceló’s unorthodox techniques, developed in his travels from Paris to Africa, and to the venerable kilns in Vietri , Italy , have enabled him to speak in many ceramic idioms, and to invent forms often derived from the natural history of his native island, Mallorca .”
Through its gallery, arboretum, sculpture gardens and programs, LongHouse Reserve brings together art and nature, aesthetics and spirit, with a strong conviction that the arts are central to living wholly and creatively. LongHouse Reserve is a not-for-profit museum that encompasses nearly 16 beautiful acres in East Hampton , New York . Each year the LongHouse Reserve presents major exhibitions in both the gallery and the gardens. Currently, there are more than 60 sculptures for the gardens including works of glass by Dale Chihuly, ceramics by Takaezu, and bronzes by Voulkos, Benglis, de Kooning and Lichtenstein. Works by Ossorio, Claus Bury, Yoko Ono, Opocensky, and Takashi Soga are also on view, while the installation of a Fly's Eye Dome designed by Buckminster Fuller adds interesting scale and dimension. LongHouse Reserve is open Wednesdays and Saturdays from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. from May to October 6th. July and August LongHouse is open Wednesday through Saturday from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. www.longhouse.org
The LongHouse Reserve would like to extend a special thanks and gratitude to the artist and the Galerie Bruno Bischofberger, Zurich for making this exhibition possible. Additional support was provided by Edward R Roberts Family Foundation; Embassy of Spain, Washington , DC ; Renee Barbier; Freixnet and La Tienda.
