Joan Punyet Miró paints Manila blue
The grandson of celebrated Catalan surrealist Joan Miró holds a breathtaking exhibit that is, quite literally, true blue — ‘Punyet L’Azur: A Homage to Mallarmé.’
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The grandson of celebrated Catalan surrealist Joan Miró holds a breathtaking exhibit that is, quite literally, true blue — ‘Punyet L’Azur: A Homage to Mallarmé.’
Joan Punyet Miro adds finishing details to his Manila obras.
Photograph courtesy of León Gallery International
Joan Punyet Miro primes the canvas with white.
Photograph courtesy of León Gallery International
He lies and embraces the canvas while at work.
Photograph courtesy of León Gallery International
‘L’Azur,’ ink on plaster on canvas, mounted on wood 40” x 40”.
The artist paints the piece blue.
Photograph courtesy of León Gallery International
‘Dream,’ 40" x 40", ink on plaster on canvas, mounted on wood.
‘Cosmos,’ 77" x 117", ink on plaster on canvas, mounted on wood.
‘Solace,’ 77" x 117", ink on plaster on canvas, mounted on wood.
‘Stardust,’ 80" x 80", ink on plaster on canvas, mounted on wood.
‘Lenéant,’ 40" x 40", ink on plaster on canvas, mounted on wood.
An old refrain goes, “How blue is the ocean, how blue is the sky?” We suspect this was ruminated on by Barcelona-born Joan Punyet Miró, grandson of the celebrated Catalan surrealist Joan Miró, in a reflective murmur.
For Miró, everything is blue. The color is not just pigment — it is pure emotion, evocative atmosphere and treasured memory. In this tropical archipelago which reminds him so deeply of his native Mallorca, he dreams of Manila and the Mediterranean — oceans blending and skies converging over the horizon.
He has radiantly splashed on Manila’s vibrant art scene with a breathtaking exhibit that is, quite literally, true blue. Entitled Punyet L’Azur: A Homage to Mallarmé, the 10-piece series — painted entirely in humid climate of our islands, which assisted in its rapid drying process — is on view at León Gallery International, another Jaime Ponce de León coup. It is a homage to poetry, to legacy and, most visibly, to blue.
As the only nieto of the inimitable Joan Miró — whose masterpieces hang in the hallowed walls of prestigious museums from Paris to New York and who shared 20th-century artistic brilliance with Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dalí and Marcel Duchamp — Joan Punyet Miró has long lived within the shadows and spotlight of greatness.
Like grandfather, like grandson, he is a multi-disciplinary creative — once a musician, performer, sculptor, poet, even exhibitionist. But today, he is solely un pintor, channeling all his energies through canvas, and the purest shades of cobalt, cerulean, navy and ultramarine.
Though he uses other colors, for this Manila series, blue is the sole protagonista. The exhibit title, I surmise, was a nod to French symbolist poet Stéphane Mallarmé, whose verses evoke abstraction and sentiment, much like Miró’s creations themselves. And yet, Punyet L’Azur is no passive tribute — it demands to be experienced with our whole bodies, even perhaps our souls, as physical and spiritual as it is poetic. As with the poetry of Mallarmé, there is tension and release, sound and silence, substance and suggestion.
And as expected, he likewise uses his entire physique to create these obras. To watch Joan Punyet Miró at work is to witness a kinetic performance. He paints without brushes, palettes, knives or even spatulas. Only his bare hands meet the canvas!
Videos and photographs from the artist’s sessions reveal him crawling on all fours, lying on his belly, wrestling with the canvas on the floor. There is no hierarchy here — just man and medium in dialogue.
“Blue is blue,” we imagine he affirms with conviction. But within this simplicity lies a spectrum of feelings. Each canvas explores different textures, tonalities, and intensities. Some objet d’art erupt with violent splashes and forceful tinctures, others brood with darker hues and haunting stillness. Manila’s humidity, he remarks, accelerates drying, which means a single drop, every stroke and each piece is immediate and urgent!
This physical, almost spiritual interaction with his materials connects Joan Punyet Miró with both his personal artistic truth and his grandfather’s legacy.
Punyet L’Azur is an emotional map — the 10 masterpieces, a blend of worlds, a homage to history, and an offering to the skies and seas that bind us. Each piece, born from the artist’s time in Manila, is a bridge between continents, a whisper between generations and perhaps, even a tinge of blue.
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