In
Madrid I saw Picasso’s Guernica. The scream of the horse, the candle on
atrocity, the newspaper photograph. This in Madrid made me want to create grand
horrible things.
In
Barcelona, Picasso’s surety in upsetting those who tell you how it is done was
explored in his museum. The father looks away as lines in the face look like
fractures, but their location indicates intent. That sureness through Las Meninas reinforced for me the necessity of challenging the creation of art in
all its facets and ideologies.
I went
to the Joan Miró Foundation where Miró’s works made me stride like a giant, and
growl as a monster. I felt I'd figured a puzzle as I understood where and when
he made art. The deliberateness of his pursuit of ambiguities was to create
jumping points for imagination. That the monstrous and dramatic figuration was
an enabler for the viewer.
Within
the foundations of Barcelona I walked the excavated streets and buildings of
generations of Romans who conquered and lived in what would become Spain. I did
my best to imagine their existence.
And now
that I am back in Australia I continue to unravel my jotted notes, stick figure pictures,
and photographs.
