{"id":364467,"date":"2026-04-05T05:34:19","date_gmt":"2026-04-05T05:34:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/364467\/"},"modified":"2026-04-05T05:34:19","modified_gmt":"2026-04-05T05:34:19","slug":"picassos-most-radical-work-returns-through-bedri-baykams-istanbul-exhibition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/364467\/","title":{"rendered":"Picasso\u2019s most radical work returns through Bedri Baykam\u2019s Istanbul exhibition"},"content":{"rendered":"

A new exhibition by Turkish artist Bedri Baykam, built around Pablo Picasso\u2019s 1907 painting \u201cLes Demoiselles d\u2019Avignon,\u201d has opened in Istanbul following its first showing in Paris.<\/p>\n

Titled \u201cBaykam on Picasso: Les Demoiselles Revisited,\u201d the exhibition is currently on view at Piramid Sanat in Istanbul and will remain open to visitors until September 5.<\/p>\n

The project was first presented in May 2025 at Galerie S\/Beaubourg in Paris and now brings its multi-layered interpretation of Picasso\u2019s work to a local audience.<\/p>\n

\"An
\n<\/p>\n

\nAn installation view from \u201cBaykam on Picasso: Les Demoiselles Revisited,\u201d Istanbul, T\u00fcrkiye, March 28, 2026. (Photo via Instagram \/ @bedribaykam)\n<\/p>\n

Lifelong dialogue with Picasso<\/p>\n

Bedri Baykam\u2019s engagement with Picasso dates back to his childhood, shaping a long-term artistic dialogue rather than a single project.<\/p>\n

\u201cPicasso caught my attention when I was eight,\u201d Baykam said, explaining that he later gave his first presentation on the artist at age 12 and produced his first Picasso-inspired painting at 24. \u201cThis idea did not emerge in a single day.\u201d<\/p>\n

The exhibition builds on this decades-long connection and presents a series of works that revisit \u201cLes Demoiselles d\u2019Avignon,\u201d one of the most influential and controversial paintings in modern art.<\/p>\n

The original 1907 painting marked a radical break from traditional representations of the female body, rejecting idealized forms and introducing a fragmented, confrontational visual language influenced in part by African masks and earlier European artists.<\/p>\n

Baykam\u2019s reinterpretation expands this historical framework by imagining alternative influences, including the possibility that Picasso could have encountered works by 15th century Turkestan artist Mehmet Siyah Kalem.<\/p>\n

\"The
\n<\/p>\n

\nThe \u201cBaykam on Picasso\u201d poster, Istanbul, T\u00fcrkiye, February 20, 2026. (Photo via Instagram \/ @bedribaykam)\n<\/p>\n

Inside exhibition experience<\/p>\n

The exhibition goes beyond paintings and incorporates installations designed to create a multi-sensory experience.<\/p>\n

One of the central objects on display is a childhood bicycle connected to Baykam\u2019s first encounter with Picasso. The artist explained that the bicycle was rediscovered years later by a collector who recognized it in an old photograph.<\/p>\n

Other installations include recreated interiors inspired by historic brothels in Paris and Istanbul, accompanied by period objects and symbolic elements.<\/p>\n

A tunnel-like structure formed by two chairs placed back to back represents what Baykam describes as a conceptual bridge between different worlds.<\/p>\n

According to the artist, Picasso\u2019s work created \u201ca path through the brain waves of worlds that did not meet or speak,\u201d linking cultures such as Africa and Europe.<\/p>\n

Another section revisits Baykam\u2019s earlier installation work from the first Istanbul Biennial in 1987, reinterpreting a traditional Turkish bath setting with sound, scent and staged conversations between women from different backgrounds.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose who enter the bath will sweat,\u201d Baykam said, referencing a Turkish expression used within the installation.<\/p>\n

\"Artworks
\n<\/p>\n

\nArtworks featured in \u201cBaykam on Picasso: Les Demoiselles Revisited,\u201d Istanbul, T\u00fcrkiye, March 28, 2026. (Photo via Instagram \/ @bedribaykam)\n<\/p>\n

Journey across time and cities<\/p>\n

Bedri Baykam said the exhibition is designed to transport visitors across time and geography, from early 20th-century Paris to later decades in both Paris and Istanbul.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted people to return to 1907, to 1910, to the Paris of that period, and to the Istanbul and Paris of the 1960s and 1970s,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The exhibition combines visual works with music, written materials, and curated environments to create what Baykam describes as a \u201cliving art\u201d experience.<\/p>\n

A companion book, published in Turkish, English, and French under the same title as the exhibition, accompanies the show and expands on its themes.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

April 04, 2026 05:57 AM GMT+03:00<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A new exhibition by Turkish artist Bedri Baykam, built around Pablo Picasso\u2019s 1907 painting \u201cLes Demoiselles d\u2019Avignon,\u201d has…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":364468,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[442,498,499,500,501,156,111,139,69],"class_list":["post-364467","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-artsdesign","tag-design","tag-entertainment","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/364467","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=364467"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/364467\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/364468"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=364467"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=364467"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=364467"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}