Untitled [plate LXI] 1958

This is a print by Joan Miró, and those blotty marks are such a cool invitation into the process of making. I like to think about him, in the studio, maybe wrestling with the plate, trying to get the ink just right. Each gesture feels so deliberate, yet playful, doesn’t it? Like a little dance of ink across the surface. I see this upright form, with the curved top, balanced on two small legs— is it human, animal, something else entirely? The other strokes seem to gesture towards this central figure, in a kind of conversation. Miró was so good at making these kinds of enigmatic forms that are never quite resolved. And what’s so exciting is how he builds on what came before him—Surrealism, Dada. Artists are always talking to each other this way. He opens up a space for ambiguity, where things can be multiple things at once and, like, invite us into the fun.