Adrian Ghenie: Darkness for an Hour is at Haunch of Venison, London,July 25, 2009

In his first solo show in Britain, young Romanian painter Adrian Ghenie presents a body of work which fill the vast space of the new Haunch of Venison galleries. The title of the exhibition, ‘Darkness for an Hour’ refers to energy protests and the resulting Earth Hour on March 30, 2009, during which lights were switched off in buildings all over the world.

Despite the title, Ghenie’s series of paintings is not anchored in ecology or environmental politics. Rather, the artist seems endlessly fascinated with the familiar imagery of the 20th century, with both Hollywood and Dada acting as recurring themes.

Ghenie’s technique implies the process of remembering, and his figurative works are obscured by a thin veil of abstraction, perhaps standing in for temporal distance. He clearly paints from the combined sources of authentic memory and pictorial evidence, resulting in paintings which are obviously memories of shared historical experience.

Marcel Duchamp is perhaps the most constant theme in this series, evident in two portraits and two paintings of his corpse at his funeral, the moment which declared ‘Dada is dead.’ Ghenie paints Duchamp furiously in a way which declares remembrance: the compulsive rethinking and re-evaluation of a scene long after its expiration. Ghenie’s technique is so gloriously dark, so heavenly beautiful, that it almost defies articulate description. All things are tangible in his swift handling of paint: memory, loss, a deep cultural mourning.

The new Haunch of Venison gallery in the former Museum of Man is perhaps a difficult space in which to launch a solo show for an emerging artist. The walls are enormous, the rooms expansive. The entire building is so infused with grandness, that the empty space could potentially seem more potent than the art. Fortunately, Ghenie’s brilliant works rise to the challenge of the white box spaces, surpassing perhaps even the most liberal imagining of their potential.