After a three-year lockdown, several international art events are finally back in Hong Kong, namely Art Central and Art Basel. I am so grateful to be able to see European paintings in an art museum without much fuss. No vaccination passes, no QR codes.
The debut of our “comeback” featured artist is Spanish painter, sculptor, and ceramicist Joan Miro. He chose art over business at a young age. His works are playful with the frequent use of symbols, shapes, and colours.
He always used black to create shapes or core subjects. Yellow, blue, and red are some of his favourite colours. The combination of these vibrant colours is so Spanish. My friend considered him sad when looking at his paintings. Specifically, she described his paintings as having gray or dark backgrounds and black strokes.
What caught my attention the most was the use of cardboard and knitted strings as his canvas. I just thought these media were always dark in colour. He even picked up paintings and incorporated his wild imagination of shapes and symbols and letter-like creations on top.
I do not find black strokes indicative of low mood as people always use black pens or paint.
To my surprise, Miro experienced nervous breakdowns at age 18. He also had several depressive episodes throughout his life. Some paintings place curved lines, objects, faces, and symbols chaotically. His paintings often featured ladders as symbols of his struggle with mental state and escaping from chaos.
While some people write to channel their emotions, Miro felt calm when painting. Like Picasso, he lived a long life, survived the Spanish political movement and World War I and II, and died at 90.
In his paintings, he associated blue with calmness, serenity, and spirituality.
Red represents passion, energy, and vitality and may be associated with violence or danger in some of his works.
Miro’s yellow is the colour of celebration, joy, and movement. Black creates depth and darkness within a composition, or even death or mourning. Green was occasionally used in his works to represent nature, growth, and renewal.
It is said that creativity may be related to depression. No matter what, do not undermine your creativity in the arts, writing, or any other form of creation. History shows that mental state does not hinder us from excelling at what we do best.
experience today 