Boundary of the Sea
September, 09 2018
Boat (Beneath a Sunny Sky), detail. The vertical/horizontal blue line is a physical boundary within the painting, yet it is also a metaphorical break between land and sea. In western cultures, the beach has come to represent recreation and relaxation, ease of mind and, at the economic level, a good quality of life. At the same time, the beach also functions as a [...]
Rosemary and Marjoram
September, 05 2018
In July 2018, while in Portugal, I went to an 18th century palace to watch a classic play of 1737, The Wars of Rosemary and Marjoram (Guerras do alecrim e manjerona). A witty, burlesque, satirical piece of theatre by António José da Silva (1705-1739), with baroque operatic scenes by António Teixeira (1707-1774), the whole performance being doubled by a puppet show, in respect to the [...]
Demos & Demons
July, 04 2018
Exodus, 2021, oil on canvas, 140 x 170 cm Athens, january 2018. As I walk along the Parthenon, my guide stops to contemplate the horizon with a mixture of pride and despair in her eyes. Then she says : « The barbarians are back. » Her words ignited my imagination. What Europe exactly was being invaded according to this aged Greek lady with a vast store of anecdotes on the godly [...]
Palmyra
July, 04 2018
« Capital Punishment (Palmyra) », a double-sided painting, replicates a contrast that has provoked shock waves worldwide. It evokes on the front side a classical ballet that took place at the Roman Theatre at Palmyra in 2011, with the ballerinas' grace magnified by the ochre like colours and majesty of the ancient set, the scaenae frons, and by a replica of the Lion of Al-lāt, an [...]
Nazi Holidays
January, 29 2017
"In Nazi Holidays (2011), Adach made use of a photograph from an album found in Germany a few years ago, and which was subsequently reproduced in several media. The album turned out to contain more than one hundred photographs of SS officers and security guards from Auschwitz. In the photographs, the German executioners are seen in family situations, relaxing [...]