Barthélémy Toguo examines the work of Picasso at the Museu Picasso

Barthélémy Toguo (Mbalmayo, Republic of Cameroon, 1967) presents at the Picasso Museum in Barcelona his creations as a result of his residence at this museum invited by the art historian Androula Michael, specialist in Picasso. The project was born with the aim that Barthélémy Toguo, imbued with the world of Picasso, creates works arising from the dialogue between the two. The work of Toguo and Picasso is separated by a geographical, temporal and cultural distance; however, the common continuities and inspirations never cease to amaze us. Both Toguo and Picasso agree that they start from the idea that an artist does not make works to decorate apartments, but makes them with an intense political consciousness. This meeting point evolves into a constant metamorphosis in Toguo's work, which is crossed by various intensities and desires, while dealing with themes that we can also find in Picasso's work such as the celebration of life, nature and the body Toguo's proposal is to interrogate the representations of Africa in its relationship with the West from a new perspective that overcome pastiche or the imitation of certain motifs.

It is the first time that the Museum has dedicated such an extensive monograph to a living contemporary artist. An international referent of art that has exhibited in major biennials and major institutions around the world. Toguo proposes a rich and eclectic exhibition, full of drama and tenderness; with some of his most emblematic works and unpublished creations created on site in Barcelona. It will examine the work of Picasso through its particular acuity and will converge both with the works of the collection and with the architectural space of the museum.

The exhibition can be visited from September 23, 2022 to February 26, 2023.

Pictured: Barthélémy Toguo at the "Strange Fruit" exhibition, Galerie Lelong & Co., Paris, 12.10.2017. Photograph by Fabrice Gibert