Pablo Picasso’s Guernica (1937) holds a unique place in art history – not only as a modernist masterpiece, but as a political statement and a haunting reminder of human suffering. The mural – which stands over 11 feet tall and 25 feet wide – was created in 1937 in response to the bombing of the Basque town Guernica during the Spanish Civil War. It is visceral, depicting fragmented bodies, screaming subjects, flames and animals all rendered in stark monochrome. Many believe it to be the most powerful anti-war painting of all time, and, tragically, its message is as relevant now as it was 85 years ago.
Carlos Blanco (b. 1983) – a Madrid-born artist now based between Berlin and New York – is one of many creatives to have paid tribute to Picasso’s iconic artwork. His rendition, completed in 2023, is part of Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía’s Rethinking Guernica project. Blanco’s composition is just as large as the original and uses light and colour in a similar way to that of its predecessor. But there’s something different about his take. He moves the composition to deeper levels of abstraction. It’s hard to pick out any particular subject amidst his clever, trompe l’oeil technique of placing geometric fragments that cast shadows upon multiple layers below.
Blanco’s art has gained international recognition for this very reason. He cites other 20th century masters – Francis Picabia, Gerhard Richter, Francis Bacon – amongst his inspirations, recalling visits to MoMA and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York where he was blown away by their approaches to figuration and abstraction. Now, in his own work, he blends the two genres – camouflaging human likenesses within complex geometric shapes. Eyes, noses, teeth, fingers and lips collide with various objects, shifting in and out of focus amongst different patterns and textures. The results are works like Fiesta and Violinist, pictures which are surreal, immersive and distinctly off-kilter.
Blanco offers a contemporary take on Cubism, creating oil paintings and sculptures that frequently shift between harmonious and chaotic, controlled and spontaneous, disciplined and wild – dualities at the heart of the human experience.
@carlosblancoartero
Image Credits: Carlos Blanco Artero, Guernica, 2023. Photography by Joaquín Cortés.
