Forgotten city

A darker, Gothamesque take on the usual cityscape, “Forgotten city”‘ harbours remarkable complexity. The warmth and comfort of a sunny day, with architectural tours de force mirrored in calm waters, is inverted, like a film negative.
Instead a sense of foreboding, of danger and of an almost malign presence are evoked through the roughened  texture, the harshness of knife strokes and the depth of contrast within the monochromatic palette. The  darkness at the painting’s heart intensifies the dystopian aura, and the supposed brightness of the silver leaf, by its nature the thinnest of veneers, in fact emphasises the superficiality of the urban facade.
This work rewards a few moments of contemplation,  calling to mind dramatic and cinematic works, from Orwell to Philip K. Dick, Sin City to Escape from New York, via Fritz Lang and Ridley Scott.