Mat Collishaw's fitting tribute to a master of the big screen
Mat Collishaw faced an unenviable task in being commissioned by the BFI to respond to the films of Sergei Parajanov. The Georgian-born Armenian, the subject of a festival at the BFI, has been acclaimed by such greats as Fellini, Godard and Jarman.
Wisely, Collishaw chooses to subtly incorporate elements of Parajanov’s imagery into this multi-screen installation which is consistent within his own recent work. The sculptural tableau which holds the screens, made from antique and discarded frames and doors, recalls the decorative partitions in Parajanov’s films, while imagery of peacocks, candles, Armenian churches and a white horse amid the shadows refer to the master’s complex, surreal iconography.
But this is incorporated within Collishaw’s interest in Victoriana — the installation has Gothic feel, rather like a 19th-century phantasmagoria for the contemporary age, particularly in a gruesome sequence marrying predators feeding on prey with ritual slaughter.
I’m not sure how much this dalliance with Parajanov adds to our understanding of the Armenian auteur but it enhances Collishaw’s oeuvre.
Mat Collishaw until 9 May (020 7928 3232, www.bfi.org.uk/gallery)
