Stars at Tallapoosa, 2023
Marcel·la Barceló (b.1992, Palma de Majorca, Spain; lives in Paris, France)
Marcel·la Barceló creates chromatic, figurative paintings that invite us into a series of dreamlike scenes that she describes as ‘mindscapes’. Growing up on the island of Majorca, Marcel·la’s deep connection to nature, especially the sea and mountains, has profoundly shaped her work. Her paintings often explore a dreamlike vision of the natural world and humanity’s relationship to it, mediated by often solitary figures.
“The places I try to depict could be anywhere at any time. There is no law of gravity [in them]… the sky could be sea and the sea could be the sky and everything could be upside down. They are never real places. They are not landscapes, but maybe I could say mindscapes.”
Marcel·la draws on diverse influences in her work including Gaston Bachelard’s philosophy, the paintings of Edward Munch and Félix Vallotton, alchemy, witchcraft, fantastical literature, Henry Darger’s outsider art, Hayao Miyazaki’s films and Lewis Carroll’s ‘Alice in Wonderland’.
Her work has been presented in numerous exhibitions both in France and internationally. She participated in the Biennale de Dessin Contemporain de Paris in 2014 and was Awarded the Prix du Dessin Contemporain of the Beaux-Arts de Paris in 2015. Her work can be found in the collections of the Foundation Louis Vuitton (France), Xiao Museum (China), Museum of Contemporary Art of Ibiza (Spain), Cabinet de Dessin des Beaux- Arts de Paris (France), Foundation Guerlain (France), Fonds de Dotation Emerige (France) among others.