Marvellous Malaga
Largely ignored by the tourist hordes heading for the beaches of the Costa del Sol, Malaga is now staking its claim as a city break destination with major cultural attractions, writes Ian Sclater
Museo Picasso Malaga
Malaga is currently vying with a number of other Spanish cities to be named European Capital of Culture in 2016.
Artistically, this is Picasso’s town. The beautiful museum dedicated to the life and work of the city’s most famous son is the main visitor attraction, while his birthplace museum offers an insight into his early years.
Apart from Picasso, Malaga has a broad range of public and private galleries and museums, most of them a short walk from each other in the compact city centre.
Artmag hit the streets and found an eclectic and stimulating variety of work by local and international artists.
PICASSO
When it opened in 2003, the Museo Picasso Malaga (MPM), housed in the former Palacio de Buenavista, with its Renaissance courtyard and its coffered, Moorish ceilings, took its place alongside museums in Barcelona and Paris dedicated to Picasso’s work.
Virtually the entire range of the artist’s output from 1892 to 1972 is represented in a collection created from over 220 works which remained in his possession until his death in 1973. They reflect his repetition of certain themes over time, as he constantly reexplored the full potential of each subject. The works are organised thematically (still lifes, portraits of women, bulls and bullfighting, etc.) to reflect Picasso’s enormous versatility and prolific output. www.museopicassomalaga.org
Galeria JM
The Fundacion Picasso, the artist’s birthplace museum, attempts to recreate his surroundings in the early years of his life. An important collection of his works includes a group of ceramic pieces (Picasso made over 2,000) featuring animals, birds, fish and mythological figures on reliefs, vases and jugs. There are also a number of personal items. The house and an annex, which also faces the lovely Plaza de la Merced, host permanent and visiting exhibitions. www.fundacionpicasso.es
OTHER GALLERIES & MUSEUMS
Housed in a former wholesale market next to the Guadalmadena river canal is the Centro de Arte Contemporaneo (CAC). Financed by the City Council and based on the model of the German ‘Kunsthalle’ (art house), its well connected director, Fernando Frances, is, according to one gallery owner, “bringing things to Malaga never seen here before”. www.cacmalaga.org
Agustin
Fernandez
Gallardo
Just a few steps from the CAC’s front door is the cheekily named Espacio Tres (the CAC’s two exhibition spaces are called Espacio Uno and Espacio Dos), a collective of nine artists, with a different one featured every four weeks. www.espaciotres.es
A couple of doors further up you’ll come to Henarte, which features contemporary and classical art by international artists. Exhibitions are often accompanied by music and theatrical performances. www.henarte.com
Three contemporary galleries share a similar ethos. The Galeria Alfredo Viñas has seven or eight photography and painting exhibitions a year in an airy, loft-style space in the heart of the old town. alfredovinas.com The Galeria Isabel Hurley focuses on new technologies, including installations, video and photography, by Spanish and international artists. The programme of five exhibitions a year also includes drawings, sculpture and performance. www.isabelhurley.com In an unassuming side street near the waterfront the Galeria JM is divided into two levels with two areas on each. Many of the exhibition projects are designed especially for the space. www.galeriajm.com
Galeria Cartel
Just off the Plaza de la Constitucion, the Ateneo de Malaga is one of the few venues in the city where emerging artists can exhibit for the first time. Artists do not have to pay an exhibition fee to use the lobby area. The impressive building used to house the Escuela de Bellas Artes de Malaga, where Picasso’s father taught art and where the young Pablo had his first contact with the art world. Artmag was lucky enough to catch the very first show by Agustin Fernandez Gallardo, ‘Cojan al ladron’ (Catch the thief), a reference to the artist’s admission to ‘stealing’ images for his own collage paintings. www.ataneonmalaga.es
Facing Malaga’s busy waterfront, the Galeria Cartel presents eight to ten exhibitions a year specialising in figurative, contemporary art by international artists. www.galeriacartel.es
Celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, the Galeria de Arte Benedito specialises in figurative painting and sculpture. To encourage collectors, it does not charge sales tax or interest on purchases. www.galeriabenedito.com
Yolanda Ochando Obra Grafica (Graphic Art) is an intimate private gallery where director Yolanda Ochando describes herself as “more an art adviser than a dealer”. In addition to her own portfolio of mainly Spanish contemporary artists, she has prints by greats such as Miro, Picasso and Juan Gris. www.yolandaochando.com
PLUS DON’T MISS
Opened in September 2009, the Museo del Vidrio y Cristal (Museum of Glass and Crystal) has already been named the best new cultural development by Malaga writers. The lovingly restored 1760 building in a formerly overlooked quarter just north of the city centre houses a gorgeous collection which, says one of the museum directors, retired Emeritus Professor of Microbiology at the University of London Iain Phillips, “tells the story of glass” over the past 2,500 to 3,000 years. For a preview, take the excellent ‘virtual’ tour. www.museovidrioycristalmalaga.com
How to get there
From Edinburgh & Prestwick: Ryanair,
www.ryanair.com
Where to stay
The Husa Guadalmedina
hotel is central located directly opposite
the Centro de Arte Contemporaneo.
www.husa.es
Further info www.malagaturismo.com