Nicasso is a work by Carlos Pazos (Barcelona, 1949), created in 2006 and acquired shortly thereafter by the CGAC to be included in the exhibition La sombra de la historia, a show focused on the personal or secret archives and collections of various artists.

The piece functions as a critical and ironic reflection on the many popular readings and interpretations of Picasso’s work, taking as its starting point the celebrated ceramics of Vallauris. This town, where the Málaga-born artist lived between 1948 and 1955, became the setting for an intense period of ceramic production.

Picasso’s connection with Vallauris began while he was living in Golfe-Juan. There he met Suzanne and Georges Ramié, owners of the Madoura workshop, and soon began to experiment in their studio. Shortly after, he moved with his partner Françoise and their son Claude to the villa La Galloise, located on a nearby hill.

Until then, Vallauris was known for its fireproof kitchenware—functional ceramics with little artistic appeal. Picasso revolutionized this panorama: he signed an agreement with the Ramiés and began producing all kinds of pieces, from conventional plates and jugs boldly decorated with Mediterranean motifs (fauns, fish, masks), to more sculptural forms. His influence inspired both fellow artists and local artisans, who started to experiment with new shapes and colors aimed at decorative purposes. These innovations attracted audiences and the growing tourism of the French Riviera, transforming Vallauris into a dynamic, diverse, and modern ceramics center—though one also marked by a certain period kitsch.

The exhibition now revisits Nicasso, which brings together a collection of ceramics representative of the post-Picasso Vallauris era. The work is accompanied by several related pieces, including Nicasso, el film, where Pazos creates a collage of scenes taken from commercial films made between 1950 and 2000, in which Picasso is referenced or evoked as a symbol of extravagance. In addition, a documentary video by Vacca is included, focusing on the work’s first public presentation at the Museu Abelló in Mollet del Vallès. On that occasion, the installation was displayed in a shop window–shaped space, open to the gaze of passers-by twenty-four hours a day, as if it were an actual store.