The Catalan artist Miquel Barceló, whose complete name is Miquel Barceló Artigues, was born on the island of Majorca in Félanitx in January 1957. For a short time Miquel Barceló studied at the "Escuela de Artes y Oficios" in Palma de Majorca as well as in Barcelona at the "Escuela Superior de Bellas Artes de San Jorge" and went on a study trip to Paris.
As a painter Miquel Barceló, one of the most important Spanish contemporary artists, is regarded a "material artist": a pastose, relief-like technique with a focus on heavy material, has a long tradition in Catalonia (e.g. Antoni Tàpies), which Miquel Barceló Artigues continues. Accordingly, his works show a respective surface relief; additionally, the artist integrates objects in his works, placing them somewhere between painting, relief and object art.
Both the Catalan material art as well as Neo-expressionism, of the type popular in Germany and italy in the early 1980s, inspired the artistic development of Miquel Barceló. Not least did numerous journeys shape the works by the "artist nomad" Miquel Barceló.
In the 1980s Miquel Barceló Artigues became established in the art scene: In 1981 he participated in the São Paulo Biennale, in 1982 he had an exhibition in the Caixa de Pensions showing expressive paintings of angry dogs which caused quite some furor. The same year he showed works on the Kassel Documenta, consequently he attained international recognition. Not only in his native country Spain does Miquel Barceló count among the biggest names in the art business, on an international level he is also among the most popular contemporary artist.
The degree of his fame is proven by international commissions: in 2008 Miquel Barceló made the cupola of the "Hall Of Human Rights" at the UNO in Geneva, a work in a size of 1.400 square meters, executed as an impressive stalactite relief painting using some 35.000 kilogram of paint.
Miquel Barceló lives and works in, among others, Barcelona.