In 2017, Dutch television organized the art competition, “Be inspired by Picasso”. This competition was linked to a series of programs about the Malaga-born artist. More than 3000 works were submitted for the competition, 25 were ultimately nominated, including my sculpture “Horse, man, woman and bird”.
I know the artist Picasso from my childhood, from school. Back in time of dictatorship, my teachers spoke of him as a symbol of freedom. I remember the arrival of El Guernica in Spain, as it ended a period of censorship and oppression.
In “my” alternative school, we were threatened with closure several times by Franco. We wrote poetry, did theater and talked about artists like Picasso, Miró and Dali.
I love Picasso because he is a vital and passionate artist without boundaries, daring and innovative. He opened new avenues and exerted a great influence on other artists of his time. I completely agree with his interest in working with different artistic genres, drawing, graphics, illustration, sculpture.
Someone told me about this contest. I thought it might be interesting. There is something that connects me to him that is close to my work and my story. I decided to send three paintings. I forgot about the entire registration until a week before the due date. Searching for which paintings to submit I came up with a new idea to “enter” in a Picasso painting.
It has become a human-sized mobile. An image from the world of Picasso that is given space: you can literally walk through it. I have made a “painting” with black lines, (two dimensional), spatial (three dimensional). The shadow of the work is projected back onto the wall as a flat, two-dimensional image. A game between the second and third dimensions.
Theme: Freedom. A seated woman floating in the air, a bird symbol of freedom and peace. A human figure that becomes a horse. A centaur. The centaurs are savages, often seeking the heavens to decide their fate. These are usually great astrologers. The horse is often depicted in Picasso’s work. As a symbolic element, noble, grotesque, human and as a mythological element. I use it as a human and mythological element.