Hell all over again
The Momart fire was one of the great disasters of Britart. In a single warehouse fire, works by Tracy Emin, Damien Hirst, Gavin Turk, and other artists were destroyed - and one of the works lost to the flames was Hell, by Jake and Dinos Chapman.
But now, the Chapman brothers have revived Hell - calling it F***ing Hell this time round - and even improved it, making it bigger.
It’s a really strange work, replaying atrocities and war crimes using little plastic soldiers. The sheer banality of evil is what strikes you - the idea that these little plastic toys with their expressionless faces could actually achieve anything you could call wicked. And yet the scale of the conception is immense - whole genocides are played out on this scene.
Goya is obviously an inspiration - but even Goya only showed a single massacre by firing squad, not ruthless extermination on this scale.
The Chapmans’ work is now joined by a number of watercolours by well known artist, Mr Adolf Hitler. These pastel daubs have been overpainted by the Chapmans - which I think might be a mistake; in their raw form they make the point about the banality of evil far better.
Look closely at Hell, though. Once you’ve noticed the scale of work, start looking at the detail. There are weird figures that seem to have come straight out of Hieronymous Bosch - nightmares of the subconscious - as well as the more realistic genocide parties. This is not just a photographic reportage about war and death - it’s a work of real imaginative power.
The exhibition is at White Cube till 12th July.
Where: White Cube, Mason’s Yard, London Sw1
When: 10-6, Tues-Sat
Tags: Britart, chapman brothers, young British artistsRelated Stories
POSTED IN: Art
0 opinions for Hell all over again
No one has left a comment yet. You know what this means, right? You could be first!
Have an opinion? Leave a comment: