Miró and Mallorca : Art meets Architecture

For art lovers visiting the Balearic Island of Mallorca, there’s no better way to spend an afternoon than to visit the Joan Miró Foundation. Nestled in the quiet outskirts of Palma and founded in 1981, the foundation is made up of three primary spaces: The Moneo Building, a concrete museum and exhibition space, The Sert Workshop, Miró’s dream studio designed by friend Josep Lluis Sert, and Son Boter, an 18th century Mallorcan finca-turned-other studio for painting larger scale artworks. Thanks to a wish in Miró’s will, the most fascinating aspect of visiting is the ability to see Miro’s untouched studios, which are preserved as the late contemporary Spanish artist left them.

Designed by architect Rafael Moneo, the imposing 90s Moneo Building is relatively recent and the result of Miró’s widow Pilar’s vision to honor her husband. Described by the foundation as a fortress, the building defends from the “hostile surrounding urban landscape” that Rafael was not impressed by. The architect’s stance led to the creation of a stark, monastic-like structure that isolates the Foundation’s headquarters from the typical urban neighborhood it is situated in.

Despite its bold and cold exterior, the Moneo’s interiors are light-filled, quiet, and pensive. Walking amongst honey colored stone and stark, minimalist windows, one might think they are walking into the futuristic set of Denis Villeneuve’s Dune. The island’s distinct light and natural Mediterranean surroundings provided Miró with great inspiration. This building is home to a permanent collection featuring iconic drawings, paintings, and sculptures from Miró’s oeuvre. Over 6,000 pieces were donated by the artist himself. Here, one can appreciate the artists’ work in an almost ritualistic silence. The contemporary works stretch out on the concrete walls and the jagged geometry of the interior walls create cavernous, natural separations between the rooms. In this part of the foundation, visitors can admire Miró’s work comfortably from up close and from afar. The architecture compliments the artwork and vice versa.

Known for transforming his work until the very last moment, Bunga’s exhibit explores fire as a force of creation, pain, regeneration, and purification. The title of the exhibit takes its name from an album by Lee Ranaldo with Dave Dyment which was released a week before the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center. Joan Miró’s World Trade Tapestry (1974) was reduced to ash in the attacks. Upon entering the gallery’s room, one is met by floating tapestries that hang high from the concrete room’s ceilings. Painted in a variety of colors, the paintings drape over the floors like ghostly apparations and recall Miró's destroyed work.

In his exhibit, Bunga’ references fire’s ability to both decimate and rejuvenate a landscape. Whilst he comments on the sad consequences of the industrial climate crisis and events like 9/11, he argues for the natural element’s image as a creative and restorative force. He enforces this belief through his own memories. Bunga’s projects are usually heavily researched and thoroughly personal. In New Life After Fire, he dives into fire’s history as a ritualistic instrument for ceremonial practices and cites his experience of witnessing a Yaqui Easter ceremony in Arizona. Bunga was struck by locals who burned the hand-crafted demon masks during their ceremony. Moreover, the artist examines fire as a positive practical tool for food preparation and everyday life. Traditionally-weaved everyday objects and vessels are featured throughout the exhibit - highlighting Mallorca’s tradition of craftsmanship. The Miró foundation is also hosting Bunga’s exhibit at a relevant time and season. Thematically, the exhibition period coincides with Mallorca’s celebration of the Feast Day of Saint John and the summer solstice, during which farmers would historically hold fire rituals to promote bountiful harvests and fertility, rebuke evil spirits, and worship the sun’s power.

Beyond its typical gallery spaces, one of The Moneo’s other highlights is its outdoor sculpture garden. The contemporary garden unfolds at the foot of the building like an elemental extension of the modern property. Here, one’s visit can be meditative and warm - a welcome respite from the bustle of the neighborhood below. Thanks to Pilar’s vision to highlight other artists and Moneo’s architectural choices, the Moneo serves as an inter-generational site for new artists to hold contemporary conversations alongside Miró’s monumental works.

Across the Monero building, one can find the distinctive Sert Studio. The studio’s exterior is recognizable thanks to its Miró-coded primary-colored accents. Catalan architect and close friend of the artist Josep Lluís Sert designed Miró’s dream studio with airy skylights and sculptural geometry. Upon entering, a sense of immediate invitation welcomes you. The super neat Sert studio is large enough to fit public-sized mural works, yet cozy enough for small drawing studies. The artisanal natural-toned tiles ground the white space, while an overlooking gallery creates dimension and height. Here, Mirò’s works are interspersed at random. They look stuck in time. Clips from magazines and other random reference images are stuck to the walls. Work stations are littered with ink bottles, paint brushes, and stacks of paper. Paintings of all shapes and sizes find themselves abandoned in various corners of the room. All is staged so that one might think that Miró himself will come bustling through the other’s room at any moment looking for a pen. There’s no doubt that space is the physical embodiment of a deep friendship that has transcended both architecture and art.

An old 18th century Mallorcan finca, purchased in 1959 with proceeds of the Guggenheim International Award he won for a ceramic mural featured at UNESCO’s Parisian headquarters, represented the artist’s wish to settle down. Miró envisioned the house as a canvas for his imagination. Son Boter, the oldest site at the foundation, served as a second painting studio and eventually a printmaking studio. Inspired by an interaction he had with Picasso, Miró used the house’s walls like a coloring book - simply graffiting them when he had a new idea. The contrast between the house’s old structure and Miró childlike contemporary strokes creates dynamism between old and new. Between past and present Mallorca.

As forward thinking visionaries, Miró and Pilar always had a plan to create a space that lived beyond the artist’s time on the earth. Donating the Son Abrines and Son Boter studios, the artistic works inside of them, and the land the foundation sits on to the Mallorcan government, Miró and Pilar cemented both their legacies. By creating a generous public artistic access point in Palma, the couple created a space to celebrate creativity with impact and honor Miró’s long and visionary career. After Miró passed, Pilar worked hard to carry forth their vision by donating her own personal collection artwork for auction at Sotheby's to fund the foundation’s preservation and growth through the Moneo project. The Miró Foundation is a testament to Miró's joy in making art on the island and the determination of a couple who wanted to give back joy to it.