Séquia de Mislata (Mislata irrigation canal)

Although this painting forms part of the same “Tribunal de les Aigües” (Water Tribunal) series as the previous work, its subject is quite different. This canvas, instead of focusing on the political-legal field, looks at the landscape formed by the material elements of the hydraulic network. The Mislata Irrigation Canal is one of those falling under the jurisdiction of València’s centuries-old Water Tribunal. Like the rest of them, it has undergone many changes and has been undermined in many of its sections. This culturally relevant structure has been subject to even more modifications than the rest due to the Plan Sur project.

Antoni Miró shows a frontal view of one of its sections, which still remains suburban, marked out, on one side, by a deep red bushes line and, on the other side, by a road with pine trees whose trunks and leafy tops are outlined over a blue sky and some wall structures. The composition is characterised by the contrast between the two lateral halves. The irrigation canal appears just between them, right in the middle, light reflecting off the water flow.

The vegetation on the left side is painted with very short brushstrokes to represent its leaves, giving it an airy lightness. By contrast, the trees on the right appear very solid. Only the light-dappled ground below reveals that the pine canopy lets sunbeams through.

The canal walls in the foreground, which go into the depth of field, like those in the background, have a monumental quality that is contrasted by the artist with the lightness of some of the aforementioned natural elements. The graffiti on the left canal wall include a senyera within a circle, which appears in a predominant position, slightly over the geometrical centre of the canvas. This red motif provides a link with the previous work because of the prominent role given to this marks by the artist also in his depiction of the Apostles Gate.

Santiago Pastor Vila