Serge Charchoune Paintings and works on paper 27 November - 31 January 2009 Reception Wednesday 28 January 2009, 6-9 pm Coinciding with his solo exhibition at Mummery + Schnelle (November 27th 2008 to January 24th 2009), Merlin James has curated a small group of works by the Franco-Russian painter Serge Charchoune (1889 - 1975). About twelve canvases and works on paper, spanning Charchoune's career, will be shown in the viewing room at the gallery, along with a selection of publications and documents indicating the wider range of his work. James has long championed this underestimated painter, who was associated with Dada, Cubism and Purism, but whose achievement is highly individual. Writing recently in Turps Banana magazine James discussed Charchoune's relevance to current painting, stressing how the artist's work 'can hang between abstraction and representation, or jump to extremes of either.[...] Slowly, Charchoune is being recognised for the individual he is rather than a footnote to major movements....the longer you look, the more peculiar and tough he is.' Examples of the painter's radical informal abstractions of the 20s and 30s, his mysterious still lifes, cryptic mystical compositions and later monochromes will all feature in the exhibition. For this first serious examination of Charchoune's work in the UK, a catalogue will be available with an essay by Merlin James. A selection of Charchoune's poetry will also be available in English translation for the first time including 'Foule Immobile', Charchoune's 1921 Dada performance poem for 25-voice choir. For the final week, from January 26th to 31st, the exhibition in a slightly expanded form will occupy the main gallery. There will be a reception on Wednesday 28th January, 6-9 pm. For enquiries, please contact Andrew Mummery at: andrew@mummeryschnelle.com or Wolfram Schnelle at: wolfram@mummeryschnelle.com   Back to exhibitions Please click here for images of works in the show Click here to download a press release in pdf form Please click here for publications from the show Please scroll down for installation views