The Memory of the Apse 2007

Marin Gherasim’s *The Memory of the Apse* is a painting of few colours, but within those colours are worlds. Look at the way the red paint drips and bleeds into the dark background, a grounding presence against the transcendent gold leaf that forms the apse itself. You can almost see the hand of the artist in these marks, the gesture of creation itself. But what is memory, if not a gesture? What is an apse, if not a container of light and experience? There is a tension between the geometric shapes and the organic textures. The red feels like a jagged wound, or a vital organ exposed, while the gold leaf is like skin, or a protective layer of memory. Together, they create a sense of unease and beauty, a reminder of the fragility and resilience of the human spirit. The work of Antoni Tàpies comes to mind, another artist who understood how to make poetry from the simplest of means.