Museo Picasso Málaga : Joël Meyerowitz : Europa

Photographer Joel Meyerowitz (born 1938 in New York) returns to Malaga after sixty years, with a major exhibition of old and unpublished works at the Museo Picasso Málaga. The exhibition will bring together for the first time more than one hundred and fifty photographs taken by Meyerowitz during his introductory road trip to Europe from 1966 to 1967, many of which have never been shown before.

“I know that my experience as a photographer in Europe changed me and gave me the necessary perspective I needed to see myself – and then, when I came home, to see America in a way that was different.” -Joel Meyerowitz

In 1966, at the age of twenty-eight and shortly after leaving the advertising world in New York to pursue photography, Meyerowitz embarked on a year-long road trip through Europe. He traveled to ten countries, covering more than 32,000 kilometers, and took 25,000 photographs. For six months he lived in Malaga where he became friends with the group Escalona, ​​one of the city’s most famous traditional flamenco groups. During his time in Malaga, Meyerowitz made 8,500 photos and recorded hours of high-quality sound of flamenco performances.

This unique experience, at the height of the Franco dictatorship, had a considerable influence on Meyerowitz and a lasting impact on his unique style of photography. Meyerowitz is recognized today as one of the leading photographers of his generation, who redefined the way reality can be captured on camera and communicated through the medium. After returning to New York, Meyerowitz had his very first solo exhibition at MoMA in 1968, comprising forty photographs taken through his car window as he traveled the roads of Europe.

In addition to the vintage and large format prints (color and black and white) that the exhibition presents, it offers a detailed account of Meyerowitz’s travels throughout England, Wales, Ireland, Scotland, France, Spain, Germany, Turkey, Greece and Italy, and places particular emphasis on his extended stay in Malaga.

Tracing Meyerowitz’s artistic development during his journey in Europe, the exhibition features portraits of local people, unique daily street scenes, urban and natural landscapes, and photographs taken from his car. It also includes a selection of original prints from his first solo exhibition at MoMA in 1968.

On the occasion of Meyerowitz’s return to Malaga, a film, produced as part of the exhibition, will allow us to follow the artist as he revisits and photographs the city of today: thus the circle is closed.

“In 1966,” says Joel Meyerowitz, “I had earned some money working in advertising. Enough money to travel to Europe for a year and take photos. So I paid $1,700 in New York for a new Volvo, which I picked up in London, and for a whole year I drove around Europe… It was an incredible year, the year I came of age as an artist and as a man, and when I look back on it now, I realize that it was in Spain that I really understood what it takes to become fully independent.”

According to Miguel López-Remiro, artistic director of the Museo Picasso Málaga, “Joel Meyerowitz, the guest artist of our program at the Museo Picasso Málaga, brings his European work into the central space usually occupied by Picasso at the museum, with the aim of generating physical, aesthetic and emotional connections with his work In 1966-1967, Meyerowitz lived in Picasso’s hometown. The exhibition establishes a dialogue with Malaga, as a city uniting the two artists. in a new light, the identity of an artist through the overall structure of his work, and in relation to his roots.”

The exhibition is curated by Miguel López-Remiro, artistic director of the Museo Picasso Málaga, in collaboration with Joel Meyerowitz.

Joël Meyerowitz. Europa
June 15 – December 15, 2024
Museo Picasso Málaga
Palacio de Buenavista
Calle San Agustín 8
829015 Málaga, Espagne
www.museopicassomalaga.org