Wife of Babylon Drawing

The beast, which you saw, once was, now is not, and yet will come up out of the Abyss and go to its destruction. The inhabitants of the earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the creation of the world will be astonished when they see the beast because it once was, now is not, and yet will come.” (Revelation 17: 8) This text comes from the final book of the Bible, Revelation – sometimes called the Apocalypse of John. In November 2020, I had the rare opportunity to see the first Gutenberg Bible. Printed in the 1450s, the Gutenberg Bible was the earliest major book printed using mass-produced movable metal type in Europe. The Gutenberg Press enabled the mass production of books and news and it spread quickly through Europe. The Gutenberg Bible marked the beginning of the age of print, which was as revolutionary then as the internet is today. The edition I saw was on public display for the first time in eighty years, but for two weeks only so I was really lucky to catch a glimpse. Not only is it one of the world’s most valuable books, but its beauty is captivating. Its poetic images, particularly the etching of the beast made a lasting impression on me that has recurred in my work since. Reading the text now it is impossible not to think about the climate and ecological crisis and how our culture of excess and boundless consumerism will destroy us. Dopamine molecules are depicted to represent our addiction to pleasure and instant gratification. Representations of molecular structures remind me of images of constellations in the first Baroque star atlases. In the middle of the dopamine formula you can see a Blood Moon – part of the prophecy heralding the end of days. Again, I have used black plexiglass to add drama and another dimension, both materially and in the conceptual sense of suggesting another world.

Drawing:Graphite on Paper

Original:One-of-a-kind Artwork

Size:39.4 W x 59.1 H x 0 D in

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