Le Chat 1969

This is Joan Miró’s lithograph ‘Le Chat’, printed sometime in the 20th century; a playground of pure form. Miró lets us see a cat made of shapes, inky black lines bounding patches of bold primary colour, set against a playful spray of greens and blues. Looking at the red eye, staring out at us, this feels like it’s as much about the act of seeing as it is about the cat itself. The texture feels immediate, like a snapshot of a dance. The large looping black lines create dynamic movement. They remind me of Franz Kline. There's a shared love of gesture and an embrace of the unpredictable mark. But where Kline is all about the drama of the moment, Miró is lighter, more whimsical. ‘Le Chat’ exists in a space between representation and abstraction, inviting us to find our own meaning, or maybe just to enjoy the sheer exuberance of its making.