This summer, PoMo will present an exhibition exploring Pablo Picasso’s final period. “Pablo Picasso – The Code of Painting” will run from 1 August-26 October 2025 at PoMo, which located at Dronningens gate 10, 7011 Trondheim, Norway.
Curated by esteemed scholars Dieter Buchhart and Anna Karina Hofbauer, in close
collaboration with Fundación Almine y Bernard Ruiz-Picasso, the exhibition “Pablo Picasso – The Code of Painting” presents Pablo Picasso‘s late work, a period defined by the artist’s radical approach as he continuously redefined and pushed the boundaries of painting. Harshly criticized and often overlooked after his death, Picasso’s late period was marked by an astonishing pace of creation, a legacy of extraordinary artistic vitality and freedom. His oeuvre reflects the profound struggles and turbulences of twentieth-century history, as well as the revolutionary transformations of painting during that era.
Exploring some of the dominant themes of Picasso‘s late period that highlight his deliberate departure from the conventional notions of painting, the exhibition will bring together more than 50 paintings and a series of 13 hand painted ceramic plates. Examining the tension between the reduction of figurative subjects to a basic code and the energy of dynamic brushstrokes, the exhibition celebrates the outstanding significance of Picasso‘s late work, which continues to be an enduring, decisive, defining and inspiring source of inspiration for contemporary artists including George Condo and Dana Schutz, who have both contributed essays to the catalogue that accompanies the exhibition.
“Pablo Picasso – The Code of Painting” also represents a unique collaboration between private and public institutions throughout Scandinavia, bringing one of the major artists of the twentieth century to the Nordic countries in 2025 and 2026.
After its debut at PoMo in Trondheim, the exhibition will be touring throughout Scandinavia and will be on show at the Moderna Museet in Stockholm (22 November 2025 – 5 April 2026) and the Kunsten Museum of Modern Art in Aalborg (7 May 2026 – 6 September 2026).
For this exhibition PoMo called on the scenographic talents of Cécile Degos.
Cécile Degos is a leading figure in set design. Her creative approach, distinguished by both meticulousness and daring, gives rise to immersive exhibitions offering multiple levels of interpretation. An essential link between the exhibition curator and the multitude of behind-the-scenes professions involved in producing an exhibition, she plays a crucial role in bringing the artistic vision to life within the exhibition space, always reconciling the history of the building and the artist with a highly contemporary approach.
A graduate of ENSAD in 1997, Cécile Degos quickly established herself as a benchmark through her collaborations with renowned institutions and artists. She has worked on major projects such as the installation of the Pinault Collection at the Paris Bourse de Commerce, and has contributed to prestigious exhibitions at the Royal Academy of Arts in London, the Palais de Monaco and Christie’s (Hubert de Givenchy Collection). Cécile Degos also works with a number of international galleries, including Gagosian, Kamel Mennour and Perrotin.
