How did a brilliant painter fulfill his artistic quest and... reach for the stars ?
" Sculpting for Miró is an innate adventure and a break from painting. This way of expression brings him into direct contact with reality, something he could only access with painting through very elaborate constructions. The process of collecting gathered items, triggered his imagination to create images that are later echoed in his paintings. Miró did not try to create esthetical sculptures but rather capture the energy and radiation of each object. Discarded items or elements of nature accumulated in the atelier laid around, waiting to be paired and used. Miró with daring boldness, worried little about constraining forms, modifying volumes or specifying articulations. What was essential for Miró was to show a volume, a plastic, autonomous being, a transmitter of energy." Extract of the preface of Jacques Dupin for the exposition Joan Miró at the Maeght Gallery, 23 July - 30 September 1970 (translated from French to English).
In 1930 Miró first explored tridimensional objects. Inspired by surrealism, he transformed everyday objects into a series of constructions and painted objects. In 1950, the artist pursued as part of this new artistic quest bronze sculptures. While on a walk in the area of his summer residence at Montroig, he found a rock that made him think of the form of a head, which he later made in bronze. This was his first diverted found object. Miró started to combine in an imaginative and spontaneous manner found objects with clay to create assemblages. He transformed these elements into poetical sculptures that are then cast in bronze. Everything follows the same process: a collection of insignificant and unserviceable objects inspired Miró to see possible metamorphoses. In his studio, Miró combined and recombined found objects just as long until he found the perfect balance.
« L'équilibriste » is a perfect example of a bronze sculpture by Miró. It is a testimony of the artist's universe, both quirky and imaginative. The work was made in collaboration with the Parellada foundry in 1969. Miró assembles seemingly unlikely materials and brings them together in one wonderful sculpture. « L'équilibriste » is composed as follows: the head is constructed out of the bust and legs of a child's doll. The bust of the toy figures as the mouth and the legs of the doll represent the ears, looking like antennas. Two screws, coming from the joints of the legs, are used as the eyes of the sculpture. The lower body parts are made up of a part of a gourd and the two arms of the doll. The sculpture is standing on two stone pedestals defining the legs and feet. There are two ways of reading this sculpture: either we see two persons, one child balanced on the head of an adult or we see just one person where the child is the head and the gourd is the body. Miró offers a dual perception of reality which is reminiscent of the surrealists. The association of incongruent elements bring life to the sculpture which reflects the humour of the artist and shows his attraction to the subconscious infantile universe.