The Spanish artist Miquel Barceló was born on the island of Mallorca, surrounded by the deep blue waters of the Balearic Islands. Although he has lived in Europe, the States, and West Africa, Barceló’s connection to Spain and the sea remains profound. In “Grisailles,” he has drawn from the sea creatures he fishes. “These paintings of grisailles, of still lifes,” he explains, “it’s like an archaeology of the self.” Primal scenes of ocean fauna in watery congress are worked fast on unprimed canvas, some tinted with a single color. “Cezanne once said that wisdom came when the canvas could breathe,” Barceló reminds us. These paintings are full of ghostly life and breath. —Elena Clavarino