Martirikon 2007

Marin Gherasim made this painting, Martirikon, using what looks like oils or acrylics on canvas. There’s a real sense of layering and obscuring here, Gherasim is playing with how much to reveal. The palette is dark, sombre even, offset by the ochres and reds, with the black marks thick and gestural. The surface feels built up, worked over. Take the area around the word “HALMIRIS”. See how the black paint is dragged across the canvas, revealing the layers beneath? It’s like he’s excavating the image, searching for something. The red text feels like a wound, a raw mark against the darkness. Gherasim’s work often explores themes of faith and history, and you can see echoes of artists like Antoni Tàpies in his use of texture and symbolic imagery. Ultimately, this is a painting that invites contemplation, a space for considering the weight of history.