Life in Print: William Kentridge and Pablo Picasso

Remai Modern presents Kentridge’s Universal Archive alongside selections from Remai Modern’s comprehensive holding of Picasso’s linocuts.

This exhibition brings together two of the most prolific and innovative artists of the 20th and 21st centuries: Pablo Picasso and William Kentridge.

The exhibition highlights remarkable parallels between the two artists including a prolific practice, multi-disciplinary approach to artmaking, and personas that precede the work.

They are also brought together in this exhibition by their extraordinary ability to pivot the medium of linocut through absolute trust in the potential of collaboration and experimentation.

The “Universal Archive” began as small ink drawings Kentridge created while developing his Norton lecture series for Harvard University. Carved meticulously in linocut by a team of printers led by Jillian Ross at David Krut Workshop in Johannesburg, the works are printed on non-archival dictionary papers.

Remai Modern houses the most comprehensive collection of linocuts by Pablo Picasso (1881-1973). This focused and specialized collection includes editioned prints, working states and experimental proofs that provide insight into the artist’s process. All of Picasso’s linocuts were produced in a 17-year period between 1951 and 1968, with master printer, Hidalgo Arnera (1922-2007).