Viva Pablo: long live Picasso

Suppose for one minute that Picasso hadn't died in 1973 but had cheated the ageing process, faked his own death and moved to East London instead. Also bear in mind Picasso's willingness to experiment with other artists' ideas and his notion that bad artists copy but good artists steal. Add an element of humour and the show 'Viva Pablo' could be a retrospective of Picasso's work from 1973 to date.

Curator Harry Pye cleverly divided Picasso's imaginary recent life into different periods. These include his Two-Tone period, from 1979-1980, and his Brit-Art period, from 1993-1997. Pye then commissioned 40 artists to create the works Picasso might have made during those periods (including the one by Kes Richardson, right).

Anna Shepperd and Janet Hamilton-Gill are creating a Tracey Emin-style sleeping bag, containing the embroidered names of all the people Picasso has slept with. Olivia Plender is interpreting the King's Cross fire in the style of 'Guernica'. Inspired by Picasso's Spanish bull sculptures made from found objects, Mat Calderwood is creating a sculpture of the Elephant from South London's Elephant And Castle Shopping Centre from old vacuum cleaners. Liz Haarala will be reworking Gillian Wearing's photo series 'Signs That Say What People Want Them To Say'. Only in 'Signs That Say What Pablo Wants Them To Say', everyone wears a Picasso mask and holds up a quote of his.

'I've always liked Picasso but this show should appeal equally to people who love him and hate him,' Pye explains. 'It's really just about extending the Picasso myth.'

Viva Pablo, Sat 3 Aug-Sun 8 Sep, The Bart Wells Institute, 3 Silesia Buildings, Off London Lane, E8 (0771 577 8017).