The Upcoming
  • Culture
    • Art
    • Cinema
      • Movie reviews
      • Film festivals
    • Food & Drinks
      • News & Features
      • Restaurant & bar reviews
      • Interviews & Recipes
    • Literature
    • Music
      • Live music
    • Theatre
    • Shows & On demand
  • Fashion & Lifestyle
    • Accessories
    • Beauty
    • News & Features
    • Shopping & Trends
    • Tips & How-tos
    • Fashion weeks
  • What’s On
    • Art exhibitions
    • Theatre shows
  • Tickets
  • Join us
    • Editorial unit
    • Our writers
    • Join the team
    • Join the mailing list
    • Support us
    • Contact us
  • Interviews
  • Competitions
  • Special events
    • Film festivals
      • Berlin
      • Tribeca
      • Sundance London
      • Cannes
      • Locarno
      • Venice
      • London
      • Toronto
    • Fashion weeks
      • London Fashion Week
      • New York Fashion Week
      • Milan Fashion Week
      • Paris Fashion Week
      • Haute Couture
      • London Fashion Week Men’s
  • Facebook

  • Twitter

  • Instagram

  • YouTube

  • RSS

CultureArt

Memento Mori at Pertwee, Anderson and Gold

Memento Mori at Pertwee, Anderson and Gold | Exhibition review
19 May 2013
Hannah Wallace
Avatar
Hannah Wallace
19 May 2013

Memento mori: remember that you will die. It is believed that the term and the art created to endorse the philosophy behind it originated in Ancient Rome. Memento mori as a form of visual art is still popular, and is created and used universally to both celebrate life and death and to remind man of his mortality. 

There was no better place to unveil the exposition of Memento Mori than in the creaky gloom of Pertwee, Anderson and Gold, which serves as both gallery and curiosity museum. Bringing together contemporary work and old objects, which all explore the notion of mortality and its creative representation, the show balances serious reflection with fun: a rich, thoughtful and (at times) sexy observation of man’s fascination with death.

Alternative culture has made the subject of death marketable, whereby traditional remembrance has been upgraded to a gutsy and super-cool fingers-up to fear and mortality (“Live fast. Die young”). Jim Skull, featuring at Memento Mori, captures a sense of this in his papier-mâché skulls, which are embellished with various decorative materials. He makes death fashionable – even wearable. Also featured is a print of a box of BJ Cunningham’s Death Cigarettes. Cunningham introduced his brand to the UK in 1991 with a “truth in marketing” approach.

Of course, death has continually been dealt with by artists, but the contemporary works of Memento Mori have a bit more funk to them. The juxtaposition between old and new, as with Butch Anthony’s reworked traditional paintings is what makes the show work. It’s not really that new ground is broken here, but there is something ultimately very cool about the mix of old ideas and new approach. There are hints of Bauhaus from design collective Heretic and of German Expressionism in Swoon’s Mortimer and Jenkins print among countless other mixed references.

Memento Mori is three-dimensional, not necessarily due to its capacity to showcase so many creative techniques, but more because of the clever fusion between old and new. Some of the traditional pieces are accompanied with a blurb, which adds reference and context in between the contemporary works. This balance is intelligent and stops the show feeling over-indulgent or contrived. This is a truly entertaining exhibition that exudes an equal share of meditative insight and peculiar beauty.

If Memento Mori feels a little kitsch, it knows it does and it doesn’t care.

★★★★★

Hannah Wallace

Memento Mori is at Pertwee, Anderson and Gold until 14th June 2013. For further information visit the gallery’s website here.

Related Itemsreview

More in Art

Ten artistic depictions of the Christmas story through the ages

James White
Read More

Five gifts for art lovers this Christmas

Emma-Jane Betts
Read More

Five alternative art exhibitions for Christmas 2020

Catherine Sedgwick
Read More

Sensing the Unseen: Step into Gossaert’s Adoration at the National Gallery

★★★★★
Anna Souter
Read More

Ben Uri Gallery and Museum: The evolution of a force for good

James White
Read More

Tracey Emin/Edvard Munch: The Loneliness of the Soul at the Royal Academy

★★★★★
Anna Souter
Read More

Magnetic North: Voices from the Indigenous Arctic at the British Museum

★★★★★
Samuel Nicholls
Read More

Lynette Yiadom-Boakye: Fly in League with the Night at Tate Britain

★★★★★
Jessica Wall
Read More

Rob and Nick Carter on Connaught Village’s public neon installations: “Accessibility of art is crucial during a pandemic”

Lilly Subbotin
Read More
Scroll for more
Tap
  • Popular

  • Latest

  • TOP PICKS

  • We Still Fax at ANTS Theatre Online
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • We Ask These Questions of Everybody: An interview with Amble Skuse and Toria Banks
    Theatre
  • Start the year right with these eco-friendly vegan and vegetarian food deliveries
    Food & Drinks
  • The Capote Tapes
    ★★★★★
    Cinema
  • Hello Cosmos – Dream Harder
    ★★★★★
    Album review
  • Green stars, two female chefs at the top and a controversially quick award: This is 2021 UK Michelin Guide during the pandemic
    Food & Drinks
  • Assassins: Exclusive new clip
    Cinema
  • Identifying Features
    ★★★★★
    Uncategorised
  • Schemers
    ★★★★★
    Cinema
  • Away: An interview with animator Gints Zilbalodis
    Interviews
  • Green stars, two female chefs at the top and a controversially quick award: This is 2021 UK Michelin Guide during the pandemic
    Food & Drinks
  • Identifying Features
    ★★★★★
    Uncategorised
  • Arlo Parks – Collapsed in Sunbeams
    ★★★★★
    Album review
  • Identifying Features
    ★★★★★
    Cinema
  • We Still Fax at ANTS Theatre Online
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
The Upcoming
Pages
  • Contact us
  • Join mailing list
  • Join us
  • Our London food map
  • Our writers
  • Support us
  • What, when, why

Copyright © 2011-2020 FL Media

The British Inspiration Awards 2013 at the Intercontinental
The Deep | Movie review