Valencia born in 1950, Carmen Calvo emerges as a figure of imagination whose work blends critique with irony. Her art carries a distinctive voice that, when translated into visual form, yields pieces that feel both intimate and universal. The artist who has left a deeply personal visual mark now prepares to open a dialogue between her creations and another maker renowned for a singular stamp: Pablo Picasso.
In celebration of Picasso Year Valencian, an event marking the 50th anniversary of the cubist master’s passing, a comprehensive anthology exhibition gathers examples spanning Picasso’s long career. It traces his paths from early studies at the art and crafts school at age twelve to the final pieces produced in his studio, with a focus on the author of Guernica. The exhibit is curated by Emmanuel Guigon and Victoria Combalia and can be visited at the Picasso Museum from May 5 to September 3, 2023. [Citation: Picasso Museum Archives]
Calvo, a multidisciplinary artist, has explored drawing, painting, sculpture, and film throughout her life. Any format could have served to fuse her work with Picasso, yet she chose the postcard as a space for collaboration. The postcard, a medium with ancestral roots in the reproduction of art, becomes a site of dialogue. In 2018, Calvo created a series of altered cards titled Exciting Time, and the project grew with new additions featuring postcards from the Picasso museum. Through these manipulations, collage techniques, and reimagined surfaces, the originals dissolve into a compelling fragmentation of reality.
Feminism, child protection, and resistance to social archetypes
Calvo’s practice foregrounds social critique rooted in the memory of Francoist Spain and the postwar era. Her works challenge inherited roles and expectations that persisted for decades, including stereotypes about marriage, domestic duties, and male bravado. The artist notes that these pressures continue to shape society, even as she refuses to present a fixed script or preach a moral lesson. The themes of gender and representation recur across her work, inviting viewers to question assumptions without dictating conclusions. The opening exhibition features a large untitled painting from 1969. It depicts an armed hunter pulling a woman’s hair as if displaying a captured animal, alongside a set of mannequins that symbolize the victims of aggression or eroticized power dynamics among women. This piece speaks volumes about the enduring tensions between gaze, control, and display. [Citation: Picasso Museum Archives]
The exhibition places the Mannequins section within the context of Calvo’s broader practice, where soft critique and irony puncture rigid social scripts. The Valencian artist has suggested that her feminism avoids overt or programmatic display, preferring instead to question traditional female roles through subtle provocations embedded in her imagery. When asked about presenting her work in a space saturated with Picasso, Calvo emphasized a fascination with Picasso’s narrative rather than a focus on his private life. She urged viewers to engage with the story rather than judge the past through the lens of today, noting that sensitive topics deserve thoughtful yet restrained discussion. [Citation: Picasso Museum Archives]
Calvo’s work frequently revisits children as central figures. Figures appear in school uniforms, as altar boys, or as victims of violence and manipulation. One influential project echoes A Cage to Live In, a white cabinet filled with dolls and curios, which viewers access through peep holes in the walls of a large box. This staging echoes a real event from 1997 that Calvo learned about in the news, in which a seven-year-old girl was abducted and confined for weeks. The artist frames these narratives not as sensational tales but as reflections on vulnerability, gaze, and the social conditions surrounding childhood. [Citation: Picasso Museum Archives]
While Calvo explains that her work responds to disturbing events rather than following a fixed script, gender issues remain a recurring source of inspiration. A prominent painting from the opening shows the tensions in a stark, untitled composition created in 1969. It presents a dramatic scene with a hunter and figures that survey power relations and the politics of the gaze. Other works evoke mannequins and silent tableaux that hint at the dynamics of control, vulnerability, and desire, all examined through Calvo’s distinctive iconography. [Citation: Picasso Museum Archives]
The exhibition’s layout highlights Calvo’s unique approach to critiquing cultural norms without sacrificing a personal, humane voice. Her works invite viewers to reflect on the social fabric that shapes behavior while appreciating the formal boldness and emotional charge that define her art. The dialogue between Calvo and Picasso unfolds through shared concerns about image, power, and representation, offering a rich conversation about art, society, and memory. [Citation: Picasso Museum Archives]