Picasso's sculptural facet travels to the Guggenheim Museum of Bilbao

The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, in collaboration with the Museo Picasso Málaga, presents the exhibition Picasso sculptor. Matter and Body.

The exhibition previously debuted at the Picasso Museum Malaga from May to September of this year and now moves with a new reading to the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao where it will be open to the public from September 29 to January 14, 2024.

The exhibition will be inaugurated this afternoon in a ceremony attended by the Minister of Culture and Sport, Miquel Iceta; the Commissioner for the Commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the death of Picasso, Carlos Alberdi; the Minister of Culture of the Basque Government, Bingen Zupiria; the Deputy of Culture and Mayor of Bilbao, Jon Sanchez; and the General Deputy of Biscay, Elixabete Etxanobe.

Curated by Carmen Giménez and Lucía Aguirre, Picasso the Sculptor. Matter and Body brings together more than 50 sculptures made between 1909 and 1962, reflecting the diversity of approaches in the artist's career in the representation of the human figure. Through this exhibition, the limits between sculpture and painting are questioned, as well as the relationship between the finished work and the evolving project. Over nearly six decades, Picasso's sculptural work becomes a testimony of his constant artistic search through movements such as cubism, abstraction, the primitive and the found object.

Although sculpture is considered Picasso's least known artistic discipline, for him it represented an equally essential form of expression as painting, drawing or ceramics. In experimenting with sculpture, Picasso showed his boldness as a self-taught artist willing to challenge conventions and used a diversity of formats and materials, such as wood, iron, plaster, cement, metal and bronze.

Picasso the Sculptor. Matter and Body also includes numerous photographs that capture the pieces in the artist's studios and personal spaces, bearing witness to his intimate relationship with his sculptural work. These sculptures, most of which were part of his private collection, are displayed in a variety of settings that offer a unique glimpse into the artist's coexistence with his work.