Untitled 1964

This untitled print by Joan Miró is a playground of form and colour. Miró coaxes black ink into a dance of chance and intention. The thick, gestural strokes suggest a scene of spontaneous creation. There's a tactile quality to this print, a sense of the hand at work, and a process of layering and interaction. Look at the large brushstroke of black, with that blue pool at its centre, a kind of eye looking out, or in. Note the feathery edges where the ink runs dry. The primary colours, red, yellow and green, are laid down as blocks or pools of colour with an almost childlike directness. Miró is often mentioned alongside Klee and Kandinsky, all of whom were interested in the space between abstraction and figuration. But this piece also reminds me of the work of the American painter, Cy Twombly, in its embrace of the primal energy of mark making. Ultimately, though, the beauty of art lies in its ability to embrace ambiguity and multiple meanings.