Strong Water and Ink Water

In the tradition of Italian artist Giorgio Piranesi (1720-1778), known for his bold perspectives and mannerist dramatics, George Charman finds inspiration not in Roman ruins and Baroque architecture, but rather in the Lisbon Earthquake, which coincided with Piranesi's time. This catastrophe serves as the driving force behind Charman's powerful metaphors depicting a civilization in ruins - our own. Blending reality and fiction, the prints recreate the original drawings by M. Paris and T. Pedegache from 1757, based on eyewitness accounts. The collapse of a city and the icons of a past splendor, the solitude amidst ruins reveals more than just architectural remnants in decay; it reveals the fragility of human creations and the absence of humanity itself in the apocalyptic and timeless scenario of values in decline.