An Obsession to Fill – Deconstructing Picasso’s Guernica

I feel that I became interested in Picasso’s Guernica way before my time living in Spain. However, that might be where my obsession with it began, as I spent nearly every other Sunday in the special gallery for this painting at Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia. I believe it was there in 1996 when I saw some of the sketches Picasso drew in preparation for this painting, at least that is what was said back then, some of my readers have explained to me otherwise… regardless, these sketches have always haunted my thoughts. The museum now has an elaborated exhibit and calls it Rethinking Guernica. It seems these sketches are now spread across the world, but that is a story for another day… Oh, and part of this revived obsession comes from my friend, James Nee, who recently sent me a reimagined version of the painting using bright colours, an… Ok, I’m getting to my point!

I’ve always wanted to deconstruct Guernica into the components (I’m probably stealing this idea from the exhibit I saw in 1997), and since I’m still in my materials exploration obsession… I figured why not combine these two obsessions. Boring syntax aside… Over the next while, I will endeavour to draw out various parts of the painting using different materials and techniques… maybe even other styles… stay tuned…

ps: I’ve also started two very different projects as well to work on slowly and simultaneously… wish me luck!