Oil paintings and diamond dusts with titles taken from lines of love poems, depicting the artist's personal 'Vanitas' motif. A distinctive, luminescent explosion emerging from the darkness in various forms.
For the first time there will be a dedicated and comprehensive exhibition of Christian Furr's desirable, iconic and celebrated 'Jouissance' series.
We are delighted that the show will also feature recent unreleased new works.
Like artists and poets before him, British artist Christian Furr would explore themes fundamental to the human condition in his art. His works are among the most beautiful vanitas - dialogues about life and death, portrayals of beauty and ephemerality encapsulated in his image of something exploding. The 'something' here is deliberate because the ambiguity in these jewel-like works is intentional. Each work brings mystery and allows the viewer to see many things in the formlessness. A flower, a sprite, a blossom.
Furr's first 'Jouissance' painting was created in 2011 and the series has creatively evolved since then. The old masterly oil paintings have become the basis for strangely captivating diamond dust works in a choice of brightly alluring colours.
"The Vanitas concept stands for vanity of humankind and the brevity of life which is expressed in Vanitas painting by juxtaposing a symbol of life with one for death... The image of life seems ever more precious when it is shown to be fleeting".
Ora Lerman, 'Contemporary Vanitas', Arts Magazine, March 1988.