Reflections. Picasso x Barceló

Reflections. Picasso x Barceló – A Transhistorical Ceramics Dialogue

Explore a dynamic conversation across centuries of art! The exhibition, Reflections. Picasso x Barceló, is part of the ongoing Reflections. Picasso × series. This project comes from the Museo Picasso Málaga. Furthermore, the project aims to establish essential dialogues between Pablo Picasso and various artists. This second chapter focuses on the powerful medium of clay. This Picasso Barceló Ceramics Dialogue is a must-see event.

Connecting Art, Archaeology, and Matter

This exhibition establishes a unique transhistorical dialogue. It merges the functional with the symbolic. In fact, the show creates an intimate encounter between art, archaeology, and matter. Practices separated by millennia are recognized within a single creative impulse.

The dialogue is articulated through ceramics. This is one of the oldest and most universal creative mediums. The exhibition invites us to understand ceramics as a universal language. Consequently, the functional and the symbolic, the everyday and the transcendent, the material and the spiritual all converge here. This practice has transformed earth, water, and fire into enduring art over the centuries.

The Artists and the Clay

Both artists utilized the ancient medium of ceramics for modern ends.

• Picasso’s Laboratory: After World War II, Picasso found a laboratory of invention in clay in Vallauris. For instance, he combined painting, sculpture, and objects. He transformed plates and pots into mythological figures and everyday scenes.
• Barceló’s Territory: Barceló came to ceramics in the 1990s during his stay in Mali. He learned traditional techniques there. Therefore, he conceived of clay as a territory for experimentation. Ritual, the corporeal, and the material all converge in his work.

The exhibition brings together these ceramic works with archaeological pieces from the museum’s collections.