My Date With Picasso

Kids off school + sun shining = trip across the water to Liverpool.

We had been promising the kiddies ice cream at the Albert dock, but really that was just an excuse to pop along to Tate Liverpool and view the much anticipated Picasso Peace + Freedom exhibition.

Tate Liverpool is a regular holiday haunt for our family. Holiday time brings out art activities in the Tate and the children get to sit in the middle of the exhibition floor and create their own art. I love the hands-on interaction and freedom of expression. I also love that Tate Liverpool captures everything I love about the city.

This visit was beyond all expectations.

The blurb for the exhibition says:

“Presented at Tate Liverpool from 21 May to 30 August 2010; this exhibition will reveal a fascinating new insight into the artist’s life as a tireless political activist and campaigner for peace, challenging the widely held view of Picasso as creative genius, playboy and compulsive extrovert.”

The collection gave a fascinating insight into the great artist. The work on display was thought-provoking and surprising, with many famous pieces demonstrating Picasso’s unmistakable style, but others (previously unknown to me) offered a deeper, and often lingering, message about war, peace and the artist’s homeland - Spain. I’ve always been a fan, but this viewing has lifted my admiration to another level, this time I have a sadness too (but that’s perhaps a personal interpretation).

One aspect to watch out for is the way the choice of paintings plot Picasso’s ‘thinking’, with each series of paintings seemingly focusing on the development of a particular thought or idea. The exhibition was breathtaking, almost to the point of intrusion, as if we were seeing Picasso’s secrets that perhaps he didn’t really want others to admire. Yet still we all came, so many people viewing words and stories, told through his legacy, told through Picasso’s art. It was stunning, on so many levels.

One bonus for us was the free exhibition Sculpture Remixed. This collection of human form sculptures had been selected by the designer Wayne Hemmingway. As it turned out this was a surprising and highly entertaining exhibition. As we entered the room we were encouraged to take a set of earphones that played a choice of dance music. My advice is to play it loud, turn up the volume and block out all other sound. I love that I viewed the exhibition to a beat. In the centre of the room, surrounded by world famous sculptures, sits a large, multicoloured dance floor (think Saturday Night Fever!). The words ‘dance here’ are plain for all to see, and needless to say my six year old daughter needed no further encouragement… It really was the most bizarre and yet most fabulous disco I’ve ever attended.

Overall, the whole family loved the Picasso exhibition and this is a must see for any of you who are in Liverpool between now and August 30 2010.

(For those who’d like to know: Admission £10 (£8 concessions). Family Tickets for 2 adults and 2 children are also available when booking by phone or in gallery, priced at £20)