Antoni Miralda: Booom

Finding solace in visual art during his boot camp training, Miralda's photographs and sketches of army life served as the basis for his critically acclaimed anti-war sculptures

Spanish artist Antoni Miralda (born 1942) found in drawing and photography a refuge from his required military service, which left him feeling physically exhausted and emotionally repressed. From this hostile wasteland would emerge the seeds of works that would distinguish him within the Parisian avant-garde of the mid-1960s. Booom is a heretofore unpublished compilation of Miralda's photographs and notebook sketches, made while at boot camp, which are at the root of his antiwar sculptures—a body of work that led the artist to become internationally celebrated. It is an essential publication for gaining a deeper understanding of Miralda's remarkable ability to transform everyday elements into powerful instruments of critique and provocation. Booom, of course, does not arrive at just any moment. It comes at a time when the world is witnessing the most severe escalation of potential armed conflict since World War II.