Michael Eastman: Havana Exhibition

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by Bryony Harrison (subscribe)

Freelance writer and poet from London; if you would like to read my poetry, please check out my book, 'Poems on the Page', available from goo.gl/Ta4oAX.

Event: 19/02/2013 - 16/03/2013

Rooms captured between opulence and disrepute

michael Eastman, Havanna, Green Interior

'Green Interior' by Michael Eastman

The brightly coloured walls of Michael Eastman's Havana series suggests a lively Cuban world, but at the same time, these walls are crumbling, garish, and uncared for. His photographs are images that connect the past with the present; what was, with what is. In Havana's glory days, the rich had lavish and exquisitely deteriorated homes, but in his latest exhibition at the Michael Hoppen Contemporary gallery, Michael Eastman: Havana tells a larger story. The self-taught photographer, whose work will be on display until the 16th March, depicts how the once strong country was knocked off its pedestal by revolution. Eastman emphasises the subtle grandeur of these buildings, which are now in ruin, and explores the inherent beauty of decay.

Michael Eastman is recognised for his previous large-scale photographs of the world's most beautiful cities such as Rome, Paris, and New Orleans. As with those projects, Havana shows Eastman's fascination with the textures of architectural decay and the narrative they reveal about the life of a building. While some of his photographs are flat, with one base colour overwhelming the scene, others are much more layered, where use of light and shade show paler colours where missing wall paintings used to hang. This creates a sense of abandonment, almost ghostly.