Although Derek Jarman’s Black Paintings display a sense of humour, it is black humour stemming from the life-changing events that were happening to him as he created them. The film director was diagnosed with HIV in 1986, which triggered an outpouring of painfully honest, often angry creativity, including diaries which he continued writing until the end of his life in 1994, and visual art such as the mixed media assemblage series on show at Wilkinson gallery, London, until 1 December.
Constructed using found objects and things picked up from junk shops, Black Paintings are a dark affair. Even the kitsch of I.N.R.I. reveals itself to hold sinister undertones, as He-Man is lashed to a cross by the demonic, homophobic oppressors Jarman saw hiding in society. When talking about these paintings, the artists referred to “melanosis” – the phenomenon where moths evolved to a darker colour to blend with the soot of the industrial revolution and avoid predators. Jarman made sure there was a contrasting brightness that illuminated his messages from the tarry black background, itself a metaphor for dark waters and shadowy corners where enemies lay in wait.