Female Forms: depictions of the female body, a dialogue between Utamaro and Pablo Picasso. Curated by Valeria Diaz Granada.

The focus of the exhibition is on the female form, as it is depicted in Japanese ukiyo-e of the late Edo Period and in the works on paper of Pablo Picasso.

The exhibition is the first time that Picasso is exhibited in a dual dialogue with a Japanese ukiyo-e historical master like Utamaro and brings together works on paper including drawings, lino cuts, prints and ukiyo-e,  from important private collections. 

The aim of the exhibition is to foster a discourse on the work of Utamaro and Picasso by exploring the differences and affinities in the artists’ formal, thematic and iconographic language. By placing these artists together for comparative analysis, the aim is to reveal the influences of Utamaro and Japanese culture in Picasso's work and shed a new light on the influences of Japanese traditional ukiyo-e woodblock prints and painting in modern Europe. 

The presentation will display intentional pairings of works inspired by the female forms, portraits and bodies. A thematic that inspired both artists in their life careers. Utamaro is best known for his bijin ōkubi-e "large-headed pictures of beautiful women" of the 1790s and for Picasso women and female forms were always a constant inspiration in his practice. Both artists depict anatomies of desire, passion and sensuality in a different yet analogous way. 

Masterclass : How to Curate private art collections ?
Venice Curatorial Course

Valeria was invited to give a masterclass at the Venice Curatorial Course in collaboration with Accademia di Belle Arti di Venezia and Museo Universidad de Navarra  in September 2021. She gave a lecture on How to curate private art collections? and her practice as an independent curator. The lecture was organised in four modules.

Intellectual and curatorial approach
Presentation of Valeria’s academic and professional parcours.
References, influences and areas of interest on Valeria’s approach to art and curation. “I am interested in exploring the speculative nature of knowledge, the importance of curiosity and the things we don’t understand.”
Definitions of art in literature, philosophy and by artists (Marcel Proust, Stendhal, Kant, Foucault, Bruce Nauman and Joseph Beuys).
The lecture started with the Socrates paradox “I know I know nothing”, to explore the impossibility of knowledge followed by Artistotle’s principle of potentiality and action to create meaning and knowledge. Followed then by Foucault’s approach of the épistémè and the place of curiosity in today’s art practices.
We also explored, Anthony Huberman’s approach to curation based on how exhibitions can enhance equality in society by using a different method in exhibition making with a special focus on Jacques Rancière.

How to curate private art collections?
Case study of a Japanese private art collection by exploring the artists, the collection, the motivations behind the collectors and the role of the curator.
Cataloguing a collection. Documenting, archiving and researching a collection.

Independent curator: exploring the interests and points of research of the curator
Relationship with actors of the art world.
Consignments, loans and insurance.
Examples of projects and featured artists.
The activities of a curator : conception, creation, contribution.

Art consulting
The Art Market : actors, the role of the art advisor, the art of collecting, the process of building a collection, code of ethics.
Short history of the art market by exploring sales and downtowns of the market. 
Impact of COVID-19 in the art market.
Creative ideas & solutions in response to the crisis.

Q&A with guests and students. 

THE [RE]GENERATOR is:
- an art program using the creative power of artists to fix the biggest problems of our time: climate change, community loss, political polarization.
- a physical space that is being used for the purposes of [re]generation.

[Re]generation: an inclusive, self-sustaining approach to community rejuvenation, political revival and ecological revitalization. A cyclical (♲) model of community problem-solving through art and collective creativity. [Re]generation is modular and scaleable, by employing ideas and materials aggregated across the growing network of [re]generators. An effective [re]generator provides both the forum, the materials and the incentives for coming up with creative solutions, called “[re]solutions” in this context. The more numerous and global the network of [re]generators becomes, the more cross-pollination and modular scaleability is possible. This is achieved by the use of the greatest possible diversity of analog & digital media and art forms. The emphasis is on practices that lend themselves to serialization between [re]generators, without taking away the element of hands-on learning and improvement. For example, D.I.Y. (do it yourself) practices, like zine-making will be a central, because they are self-empowering modes of expression, communication and documentation. The ideal [re]generator is a tool that the whole community can use to fix its problems, inventory solutions and create new jobs, opportunities and encounters.

The [re]generator program has been selected to participate in the initiative Reimagining Museums for Climate Action in Glasgow during the COP26.

The [re]generator is doing its first art exhibition "The [re]genenathon: 21 x 21" at Knust Kunz Gallery and Daniel Blau Gallery during Munich Highligths in July 2022. We will present 21 international artists to raise funds for our residency program in Kamikatsu, Japan.

For more info visit our website or follow us on Instagram @regenerator.earth

Dear Friends,

We are delighted to announce Beowulf is arriving to Europe with an office in Zürich and representations in Paris and Athens. Born in Tokyo, Beowulf is an innovative, multifaceted art catalyser, dedicated to conceive and create contemporary cultural narratives for the rising generation of artists, collectors and curators alike.

Beowulf believes in the transformative power of art in more ways than one and will place special focus on inclusive curated projects and philanthropy, while introducing artistic talent out of Japan.

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Credit image : Duy Hoang, "A Wide Area Where Three Rivers Gather", Mixed media installation, sedum weeds, volcanic minerals, ink on paper, books - Maruseppu, Hokkaido, Japan, 2018.