How to gaze: Not in these four galleries

I started at Marc Calzada, just a block from my house. For a start the door was locked, which is an immediate barrier (art is for everyone?) but apparently I passed the sartorial test and he let me in. There were some eye catching bits and bobs around, but the raison d’etre seemed to be “very small works and scraps of paper by well known artists”. Miró, Tapies, Barcelo. Some of the works were lovely, but some were there simply because the famous artist had touched them, leaving his (sic) aura on them, like a true piece of the real cross on which Our Lord was crucified. A scrap of paper, with a recognizably Miróic scrawl, had been framed quite beautifully, and the label gave the provenance. Did Miró really think it was worthy as art? Or was he just playing with an idea? And who would want to buy such an object? And who would have the money? Collectors, apparently. Calzada spends most of his time courting them at art fairs around Spain. Don’t get me wrong, I love the Picasso museum here in Barcelona simply because it tells the story of the man, the artist, through his working process, and doesn’t glorify any one artwork beyond its place in that story. <a href="https://medium.com/six-days-without-art/how-to-gaze-not-in-these-four-galleries-2a03722b07af">Learn More</a>