joseph scissorhands: Picasso and Paper

Seated Woman (Dora), 1938

Yet another Picasso exhibition. You would think we've had more than enough (here, here, here, and here), of late. You could also be forgiven for asking if there is anything new or more we could learn about Picasso and his work. In choosing to focus on his use of paper however, curators have chosen an interesting angle as a premise for the exhibition and focal point of Picasso's work, as paper was central to his practice. He used rare Japanese papers, newspapers, card and ephemera such as bus tickets and wrapping paper, tearing, cutting, collaging and even burning paper to exploit the particular effects he wanted from it as a medium. As an artist who works primarily with a variety of papers myself, Picasso and Paper, currently at the RA was an unmissable prospect though. My visit was well-rewarded too, as the brilliance and playfulness of Picasso's creativity shines through, and I left inspired with a head full of ideas to pursue. Although the exhibition is presented chronolgically, the earliest papercuts of a bird and dog done when he was a precocious eight or nine year old, could just have easily been done throughout any stage of the 91 years that he lived. The exhibition romps through all phases of Picasso's developments and innovations to demonstrate the importance of paper as a medium to his oeuvre. I found that I was just as fascinated by the smaller, almost throwaway torn paper pieces as I was by some of the bigger, more significant pieces of his work. Many of my favourite pieces of Picasso's opus were featured such as the haunting self-portrait from his Blue Period, Two Boys, from the Rose Period, the inventive collage and guitar constructions from his Cubist period, the gorgeous, deceptively simple portrait line drawings as well as the abstracted etchings of Marie-Thérèse from his Neoclassical period. Although his behaviour could be loathesome to his various partners, I admire the way his mind worked in relation to his art - endlessly enquiring and creative, as demonstrated in the deceptive simplicity of Head of a Woman, Mougins, 1962 (the last image of this post), a cut and folded piece of paper with the barest of drawn line-work. Dotted throughout the exhibition are a number of sketchbooks showing his incessant idea development processes and drawings purely for drawings sake. The exhibition also includes examples of Picasso's work in other media such as sculpture, painting, print and a copy of the cardboard costume design he created for the ballet Parade. Despite being so widely and prolifically exhibited the curators have done a fantastic job with this exhibition of sustaining interest in Picasso, one of the giants of 20th century art.