Created by Remai Modern’s Head of Exhibitions & Collections/Chief Curator Michelle Jacques, this playlist features artists and songs inspired by the exhibition A Formative Encounter: African and Oceanic Artists and Picasso.
“Orchestra Baobab was the starting point. They were a house band at the Baobab Club in Dakar. As an African country that was colonized by France, the band was also influenced by Cuban music, bringing this combination together,” said Jacques.
From there, additional themes include songs from relevant locales like Spain, the country that we associate with his career and France and African countries that inspired his art.
More on A Formative Encounter
The exhibition looked at Pablo Picasso through the lens of the non-European art that influenced his practice. Drawn entirely from Remai Modern’s collection, it explored Picasso’s formal vocabulary in relationship to that of African and Oceanic artists. Oceania is represented by a group of sculptures from Papua New Guinea purchased by the Mendel Art Gallery in 1974. Africa is represented by two masks that entered the collection with little information. These works were both bequeathed to the museum by University of Saskatchewan art history Professor Nicholas S. Gyenes in 1985.
From September 15-25, artist collective Postcommodity will create a special intervention with this exhibition as part of their exhibition Time Holds All the Answers.
Pablo Picasso, Portrait de Jacqueline de face I (Portrait of Jacqueline Full Face I), 1961, linocut printed in colours, 64 x 52.8 cm.
Collection of Remai Modern. Gift of the Frank and Ellen Remai Foundation, 2012.
Unrecorded Murik artist (Papua New Guinea), male ancestor figure, not dated, wood, cowrie shells, 181.3 x 36.4 x 34.3 cm. The Mendel Art Gallery Collection at Remai Modern. Purchased 1974.
Pablo Picasso, Grand tête de Jacqueline au chapeau (Large Head of Jacqueline in a Hat), 1962, linocut printed in colours, 63.9 x 53 cm.
Pablo Picasso, Buste de femme: Jacqueline (Bust of a Woman: Jacqueline), 1959, linocut printed in colours, 65.8 x 54 cm.
Collection of Remai Modern. Gift of the Frank and Ellen Remai Foundation, 2012.
Inspiration for a new fundraiser
See photos from Remai Modern’s recent Looking Up fundraiser inspired by A Formative Encounter: African and Oceanic Artist and Picasso. The above playlist was played during cocktail hour on Remai Modern’s rooftop. The special event also included a tapas menu of African cuisine, a conversation with Jacques and CBC’s Omayra Issa, and live music by Christian Kongawi and friends.
