AOUT – SEPTEMBRE 2026 / BEATRIZ GARRIGO, L’âme catalane – Textes Vincent Jousseaume
The light and blue skies of Barcelona—which accompanied Beatriz Garrigo when she would slip away from the Fine Arts faculty to paint *en plein air*—are the same as those found in the French Pyrénées-Orientales, where she has set up her studio. She is a self-taught ceramicist. Having long been familiar with the pottery traditions of La Bisbal d’Empordà, she naturally chose to work with the red clay extracted from the quarries of that Catalan pottery village—a material visible along the edges or within the incisions of her pieces. Yet, the first thing that strikes one about Beatriz Garrigo’s creations is the color. Bold and intense, it is applied in flat areas with great restraint—using only three or four tones, rarely more, yet always carefully chosen. She maintains an ongoing dialogue between painting—a practice she continues—and her ceramic work. While brushes, palettes, and motifs may migrate from paper to raw clay, the two practices remain distinct for her: painting offers spontaneity and emotional release, whereas wheel-throwing and applying slip-based decoration in small dabs require patience and concentration. Her style appears simple, almost naive. Yet, achieving this simplicity is no easy feat; it demands a certain confidence in the art of composition. Beatriz Garrigo views the world with childlike joy, translating it directly through a minimalist visual language—much like the Catalan painter Joan Miró in his works. She draws inspiration and passion from her surroundings in the mountains where she lives. The ceramicist pays close attention to the birds around her; she observes them in the trees, watching them twist and turn to gather the leaves and twigs needed to build their nests. It is this joyful abundance that she paints onto her large platters, pitchers, and tall jars. Occasionally, they are joined by fish—the kind glimpsed in harbors. Perhaps that is the Catalan soul: a poetry nourished by landscapes where sea and mountain meet, and where colors evoke a sense of joy. In the quiet of her studio, recalling the movements of her grandfather—a cabinetmaker—and her mother—a seamstress—Beatriz Garrigo acknowledges that the days are never long enough to express all “those simple things” that come to mind, yet which only she has held onto.
FROM THE COLLECTION
