Golems

Fascinating exhibition at Pace London of work by the Romanian artist Adrien Ghenie on the theme of Charles Darwin.

The first room was paintings of Darwin including portraits of him at various ages and a self-portrait of the artist as Darwin. These had distorted almost erased faces. They reminded me slightly of the Tonks pictures of shrapnel damaged First World War soldiers.  I liked a large one called “Charles Darwin at the aged of 75” which showed him in an autumnal garden, wrapped in a blanket and sitting on a modern white plastic chair.

However the best thing was an installation which was a room inspired by his life. It was very dark and the gallery attendant shows you in with a torch. You then look at a room made of old panels and furnished with Victorian furniture. There are pieces coming off the ceiling and the leg of a table appears to have broken through. It takes its inspiration from Rembrandt’s “Philosopher in Mediation” which I wish I had seen before I saw the room but I have since looked up. I just found this fascinating and could have stood looking at it for ages even if it was a bit spooky!

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