Miquel Barceló (Felanitx, Mallorca, 1957) belongs to a generation of Spanish artists that became internationally known in the 1980s and 1990s and which includes other painters, such as Juan Uslé, and some sculptors, such as Cristina Iglesias and Juan Muñoz. Miquel Barceló and the Written Worlds is the artist’s first-ever presentation in the Czech Republic, and it focuses on his intense and long-standing relationship with literature. This relation has been a recurring subject at different points in his career, which spans more than four decades and which will be explored through paintings, ceramics, watercolours, bronzes, prints, and books. After Barceló became known internationally, following his participation in documenta 7 (1992) and the Aperto section of the Venice Biennale (1984), he painted a series of monumental Libraries, which included self-portraits of him reading or sleeping next to empty bottles and open books. One can read the names of the writers he admired on the spines of the books on the library shelves. He also titled some of his works with names from well-known works of literature, such as Ahab and Hamlet, and several gigantic still lifes bear reference to books by his favourite authors, such as Francis Scott Fitzgerald and José Lezama Lima. More recently Barceló has done illustrations for special editions of major works of world literature. Thus far these include The Divine Comedy by Dante, Faust by Goethe, and The Metamorphosis by Kafka. While working on illustrations for these three books, the artist developed an interest in the fantastic, inspired by their contents. A selection of his watercolours from all three of these classic literary works will be shown. The exhibition will also feature several bronze sculptures related to literary themes, a series of portraits of philosophers – more expressive than realistic and made in ceramic – and a series of portraits of famous writers made with xylography. While the oldest works on display in the exhibition date back to the 1980s, some of Barceló’s recent pieces will be presented as well, including still lifes and a series of paintings of shipwrecks titled with the names of poets who committed suicide. Finally, on the top floor of the tower of the DOX Centre, visitors will have a chance to view the artist’s interpretation of a biblical theme: Noah’s Ark, a four-by-six-metre canvas, is Barceló’s largest painting to date, and this will be the first time the piece will be shown in a gallery space (it has only been shown in public once before, in a church in Salamanca, Spain). The exhibition will also present a selection of books on which Miquel Barceló collaborated with different writers. Curated by Enrique Juncosa Datum und Uhrzeit Opening hours Tue—Sun 11:00—19:00