Strong Water and Ink Water

Amidst the Ruins of Solitude

Inspired by the bold perspectives and mannerist drama of Italian artist Giorgio Piranesi (1720-1778), George Charman deviates from his predecessor's focus on Roman ruins and baroque architecture. Instead, Charman finds inspiration in the Lisbon Earthquake, a contemporary event of Piranesi's time, as the driving force behind his powerful metaphors of a civilization in ruins - our civilization.

Blending reality and fiction, Charman's prints recreate the original drawings by M. Paris and T. Pedegache in 1757, based on eyewitness accounts. The collapse of a city and the icons of its past splendor evoke a sense of solitude amidst the ruins. These remnants of crumbling architecture not only reveal the fragility of human achievements, but also reflect the absence of humanity in the apocalyptic and timeless scene of values gone astray.