Serge Charchoune

Charchoune was an odd man; his interests and obsessions, like his paintings, were somewhat contradictory. He was a misfit, a private and taciturn outsider who considered himself as much a writer as a painter; he was also deeply interested in music, synaesthesia, Rosicrucianism, and Dada. Despite his reputation as a recluse, he enjoyed the company and conversation of fellow artists and the Russian émigré community in Paris.

Marginalised in the history of art, partly because his work is almost impossible to characterise, it now transpires that his ideas prefigured many significant developments in contemporary image-making. Charchoune may not have minded his work’s comparative invisibility, for he seems to have preferred to keep a low profile, but his achievements and singularity undoubtedly deserve much more attention than they have been used to. He was a rather extraordinary painter.

Click here to view the Serge Charchoune book.

Review | ‘Visual art round-up: How to capture an image of a black hole,’ by Aidan Dunne, The Irish Times, 12 January 2016.

Review | ‘Serge Charchoune & Merlin James @ Douglas Hyde,’ by Aidan Kelly Murphy, Le Cool Dublin, 5 February 2016.

The exhibition was selected by Merlin James, who also contributed a text to the accompanying publication. The Douglas Hyde warmly thanks Merlin James, Charlotte Artus, and Kunstsaele Berlin for their support of the exhibition.

Images: (left) Serge Charchoune, installation view. Courtesy of the artist and The Douglas Hyde. (right) Serge Charchoune, installation view. Courtesy of the artist and The Douglas Hyde.