If possible, I’d like to go beyond easel painting
the other gifts from Miró
If there is an artist who has left a mark in La Rambla, this is Joan Miró (Barcelona, 1893-Palma, 1983). In 1968 he was assigned to decorate the facade of Prat Airport Terminal 2. In that moment, he decided to donate two other works: a sculpture for the Cervantes Park (never executed) and famous Pla de l’Os Mosaic or Miró Pavement. It was unveiled on December 23rd, 1976. Days after, he went for a walk through the Rambla, lending an ear to people’s reactions. Someone pointed that the tiles were badly placed. The painter replied: "You don’t know how difficult was to convince workers to place pieces in an irregular way!".
A human artwork
Miró’s artwork embelishes La Rambla’s heart, which is composed of 6,000 tiles drawing a circular shape with an arrow inside to guide the traveler how to enter the city. The colors are red, yellow, white, black and blue, Miró’s habitual palette. Almost 80 million people each year walk on this urban carpet. After 17A terror attack, Miró’s Mosaic became a reject symbol and a tribute to the victims. In a few hours, it was covered by condolence messages and bunches of flowers. All in a spontaneous way.