Carota 1978

Joan Miró made Carota using strong black lines and a punchy palette of red, yellow, blue and green – bam! It’s full of big, graphic marks and energetic splatters. I can imagine Miró moving around the paper, trying different shapes and colors, letting the image come into being through a playful process of trial and error. Look at the way he uses that thick black line to define the contours of the form, almost like a child’s drawing, but with a sophisticated sense of composition. And those dots! I bet he was flicking the brush around, having a blast, like when I work in the studio! Miró's art speaks to a legacy of modern painting where artists are constantly riffing off each other’s ideas, pushing the boundaries of what painting can be, while exploring how a simple gesture can communicate complex thoughts and feelings. It’s painting as embodied expression, rooted in ambiguity and open to multiple readings.