• 2023
    Remember /
    Dismember

    Detail from In Search of the Sun after Joseph-Fortunet Layraud

May 2023
Curator: Melanie Erixon

Remember / Dismember

About the Project

In Remember / Dismember, Darren Tanti explores memory, historical art, and creative reinterpretation by reconstructing famous 17th- and 18th-century artworks from memory. Through this process he focuses on abstraction, colour, composition, light, and shade, before overlaying elements from the original paintings to reveal both accurate recollections and deviations.

The exhibition features large-scale reinterpretations of Caravaggio's Judith Beheading Holofernes, Supper at Emmaus, and David with the Head of Goliath, alongside portraits after Diego Velazquez, including Infanta Margarita and Dwarf Sitting on the Floor. Smaller reinterpretations after Vermeer, contemporary portraits, and a self-portrait of Jan Van Dyck sit beside two abstract paintings, Abstract after Dwarf Sitting on the Floor and Essence of Pope Innocent X.

Six high-relief sculptures depict faces of Christ in bold colours with Warhol-like repetition. The salon-hang display wraps the walls of Il-Kamra ta' Fuq, recalling historical exhibition practices and inviting viewers to reconsider recollection, imagination, and the physicality of painting.

Napoleon Crossing the Alps (after J.L. David) - Mixed Media on Canvas
Supper at Emmaus (after Caravaggio) - Mixed Media on Canvas - 120cm x 150cm
Self-Portrait with Two Circles (after Rembrandt) - Mixed Media on Canvas - 100cm x 80cm
In Search of the Sun (after Joseph-Fortunet Layraud) - Mixed Media on Canvas - 30cm x 120cm
Detail from In Search of the Sun (after Joseph-Fortunet Layraud) - Mixed Media on Canvas - 30cm x 120cm
The Abduction of the Sabines (after Bernini) - Mixed Media on Panel
Self-Portrait of Simon Vouet (after Simon Vouet) - Mixed Media on Canvas
The Incredulity of St Thomas (after Caravaggio) - Mixed Media on Canvas
Judith Beheading Holofernes (after Caravaggio) - Mixed Media on Canvas - 100cm x 120cm
Pope Innocent X (after Diego Velazquez) - Mixed Media on Canvas - 120cm x 100cm
Bacchus (after Caravaggio) - Mixed Media on Paper - 120cm x 100cm
Dwarf Sitting on the Floor (after Diego Velazquez) - Mixed Media on Canvas - 120cm x 100cm
A Girl Defending Herself Against Eros (after William-Adolphe Bouguereau) - 120cm x 100cm
Risen Christ (after Guido Reni) - Mixed Media on Canvas - 150cm x 100cm
Portrait of the Infanta Margarita (after Diego Velazquez) - Mixed Media on Canvas - 150cm x 120cm
Self-Portrait of Diego Velazquez - Mixed Media on Canvas - 150cm x 120cm
Detail from Self-Portrait with Two Circles (after Rembrandt) - Mixed Media on Canvas - 100cm x 80cm
Detail of Laughing Cavalier (after Frans Hals) - Mixed Media on Canvas - 100cm x 80cm
Laughing Cavalier (after Frans Hals) - Mixed Media on Canvas - 100cm x 80cm
Detail from Supper at Emmaus (after Caravaggio) - Mixed Media on Canvas - 120cm x 150cm
David with the Head of Goliath (after Caravaggio) - Mixed Media on Canvas - 120cm x 100cm
Portrait of a Young Married Couple (after Jacques Jordaens) - Mixed Media on Canvas - 120cm x 100cm
Essence of Pope Innocent X - Mixed Media on Canvas - 120cm x 100cm
King Philip IV of Spain (after Diego Velazquez) - Mixed Media on Canvas - 100cm x 80cm