Strong Water and Ink Water

Amongst Ruins

In the spirit of Italian artist Giorgio Piranesi (1720-1778), known for his bold perspectives and mannerist drama, George Charman, instead of drawing inspiration from Roman ruins and Baroque architecture like Piranesi, found his muse in the contemporary Lisbon Earthquake, which coincided with the famous architect's lifetime. This event serves as the driving force behind Charman's powerful metaphors of a civilization in ruins – our civilization. Through a blend of reality and fiction, Charman's prints recreate the original drawings by M. Paris and T. Pedegache from 1757, based on witness accounts. The collapse of a city and the icons of its past splendor, loneliness amidst the ruins – these images not only depict crumbling architectures, but also reveal the fragility of human creations and their absence in the apocalyptic and timeless scenario of moral bankruptcy.