Martha Jungwirth: Heart of Darkness

This exhibition in Venice presents a new and previously unseen body of works by Austrian artist, Martha Jungwirth, inspired by Joseph Conrad’s 1899 novella, Heart of Darkness. Jungwirth has forged a singular approach to abstraction that is grounded in the body and closely observed perceptions of the world around her. For her vivid, expressive paintings, the artist draws upon ‘pretexts’ that become the triggers for fleeting, internal impulses that inform her practice.

The exhibition’s title Herz der Finsternis (Heart of Darkness), references Conrad’s novella of the same name, which Jungwirth read as a young woman. The book tells the fictionalised story of a Belgian steamboat expedition up the Congo River and explores the darkness and brutality of European colonialism in Africa. After visiting the Musée de l’histoire de l’immigration at the Palais de la Porte Dorée, a building constructed for the Paris Colonial Exposition of 1931, Conrad’s tale found its way back into Jungwirth’s mind. Deeply moved by what she saw and her ultimate realisation that ‘not so much has changed, the visit to the museum inspired this latest series of paintings titled Porte Dorée. She explains: ‘The subjects of migration and persecution have taken on a completely different reality for me. It disturbed me, this long history of displacement, and how it is still going on today.