For over 30 years Manuel Miranda has been creating highly imaginative art that draws from his background in music, literature, and illustration. Born in Mexico City in 1935, Miranda moved to the Rio Grande Valley in 2000, bringing with him the playful color and lyrical line of his paintings, drawings, and sculptures. The BMFA exhibition showcases over 70 works spanning almost three decades, allowing the viewer to revel in the whimsy and universality of his expressive animals and psychologically insightful figures.

There is a depth to these works that may not be immediately apparent, because the bright colors and childlike creatures seem so light-hearted. Miranda seeks, in fact, to express universal human traits—serious as well as humorous. He uses the human characteristics of animals, their anthropomorphic qualities; beasts look like humans and vice versa. Humans and animals, the artist says, are in “an ironic relationship.” In other words, the bravado and drama of the bullfighter and the bull are interchangeable.

Miranda grew up in Mexico City just three blocks from a bullfighting ring. The public could enter the arena for free after the fights and the young artist went to watch, fascinated, by these huge animals and their handlers. Ancient art forms and indigenous traditions of Mexico find unique expression in the primitive nature of Miranda’s bulls. He grew up during a time in Mexico when artists were rediscovering the indigenous arts as a major inspiration, often rejecting easel painting and European traditions in their rebellion.

Miranda credits the influences of both his native Mexico and Europe. It was through his lifelong love of books and antiquities that he studied the major European art movements. Add music to this cosmopolitan mix with the artist’s bold brush stroke and the result is a unique vision. In the end, the artist’s style reflects a deep understanding of human nature, an understanding tinged with irony and no small amount of humor and affection.