Sculpture Of Pablo Picasso’s Corpse Turns Heads At Madrid Art Fair
Art lovers got to come face to face with the late Pablo Picasso at a recent art show in Madrid. The painter’s lifeless body—or at least a model of it—was the bizarre main attraction at the ARCO contemporary art fair.
Fellow Spanish artist Eugenio Merino’s 2017 Aquí Murió Picasso (Picasso Died Here) is an unmistakable replica of the famous abstract artist, down to the iconic striped Breton shirt, linen pants, and espadrilles. Although, the real painter was only five feet and four inches tall, whereas the display was a little over six feet long.
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The lifelike dead person was the talk of the show. Without a protective layer like a case, visitors were able to scrutinize the work up close.
A performative display? Even its creator might say yes. Merino and the gallery representing him, ADN Galeria, are using the sculpture to comment on the effects of mass tourism, which they argue is what today’s art fairs have turned into.
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The Picasso sculpture is a deadpan, abstract gaze in the mirror at how art appreciators have become more inclined to attend these shows for the sake of taking selfies, rather than enjoying the exhibits as they are and buying them. Merino was moved after reading Dean MacCannell’s 1976 book, The Tourist, which explains the features that make up an attraction, and felt compelled to reimagine Picasso as an attraction too.
As with many displays at the fair, the likeness of Picasso’s corpse would have inspired visitors to whip out their smartphones and go trigger-happy, and at the end of the day give them a “souvenir” to “remind us they were here, where Picasso died,” the artist tells ARTnews. The attraction is “as fake as any tourist attraction,” Merino adds.
ARCO concluded its Madrid show on February 26, and it will stop over at Lisbon next from May 25 to 28. Collectors with room for a lying Picasso in their homes can purchase the sculpture, which is one of three models, for €45,000 (US$47,460).
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