Titled “Picasso for Asia – A Conversation,” the exhibition showcases over 60 of the maestro’s masterpieces, alongside around 130 works from 30 Asian artists, including four from Hong Kong, who wish to pay tribute to or be linked with his legacy.
“There are connections that are clear expressions of admiration or homage when certain painters, very preeminent painters from our part of the world, paint images of Picasso based on photographs. I think that’s a clear and active homage,” said Doryun Chong, artistic director and chief curator at M+ museum.
“But then we can also have more indirect conversations that can be sometimes commentary, tongue-in-cheek commentary, but then it can also be a subtle critique because Picasso was from a different time, and then society and our understanding of art’s role and gender dynamics have changed.
“By putting the more recent artworks by contemporary Asian artists next to Picasso’s, we can also see continued relevance as well as passage of time.”
Chong also said the exhibition marks the first major showcase of Picasso’s masterpieces here in over a decade, so he hopes visitors will get to see the late artist in a new way, despite how much they know about his legacy.
“It’s as much about revealing Picasso as putting a lot of questions around the myth surrounding Picasso. I really hope that our audiences will also see in new light art that is made more recently from our part of the world,” he said.
“The kinds of art that they would feel more familiar with because they’re from here, but by being next to Picasso, I hope that they will also see something new about modern and contemporary art from our part of the world.”
The exhibition will be open to the public at the M+ West Gallery from March 15 to July 13.
