Drowned World (Monte Palace) 2
 
Graham Gussin continues his Drowned World series with images taken of Monte Palace – an abandoned and decaying five-star hotel in the Azores, used by Gussin as a temporary studio during a residency on the island in 2017. The title is a reference to J. G. Ballard’s book The Drowned World which describes a post-apocalyptic future in which global warming has caused the majority of the earth to become flooded and uninhabitable.
 
Gussin pours watercolour paint over his digitally printed photographs, leaving it to settle, separate and dry on the paper's high gloss surface. This results in a beautiful and intricate network or web of lines, reminiscent of rock formations and organic growths, partially obscuring the original image. This process also makes each work in the edition unique.
 
The massive, multi-floor Hotel Monte Palace is now a ruin vulnerable to the elements. Gussin comments 'I like the way the watercolour mimics the processes that can be seen within the decaying building, and of course more literally the watercolour ruins the image, making it illegible to some degree.'
 
Drowned World (Monte Palace) 2 is part of a series of works including, Drowned World (Monte Palace) 1, Drowned World (Monte Palace) 3 and Drowned World (Monte Palace) 4.

Digital archival print on Perma Jet Gloss paper (271gsm) with a unique watercolour addition by the artist
Paper size: 42cm x 29.7cm
Edition of 8 (each one unique)
Signed and numbered by the artist on the reverse
 
£350 unframed