Curated by Martin Myrone, Gothic Nightmares opened at the Tate Britain last night. Now, while I didn’t attend the private view, I have a pretty good idea (within reason) of what went on, as the press is already buzzing with reviews. Hardly surprising really, this is a super-saucy show – sex, supernatural and well, a little helping of undercooked pork chops. You see, Henry Fuseli (1741-1825), the man of the hour, apparently went all gothic after eating a late night pork chop (no pun intended), with the intention of bringing on a few indigestion ridden bad dreams. Enter, ‘The Nightmare’, the painting that forms the heart of the show and a work, which has become a practical symbol for the Gothic movement. Indeed, it’s a painting so iconic; it’s even featured on the cover of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Just in case you haven’t already seen it, which is fairly unlikely, it features a woman, flat out on her bed, all akimbo, with a goblin squatting on her chest. It’s a dark image that, in the cold light of modern day, is more squirmish than nightmarish – though admittedly, I wouldn’t be exactly overjoyed to wake and find this wee fella sitting on my chest. However, with its obvious sexual overtones and further sadomasochistic ones, ‘The Nightmare’ is certainly something. But then again, so was Fuesli. His work often featured homoerotic, lesbian and S & M scenes with a little extra fetishism thrown in for good show. And sure, that’s no big deal by today’s standards, but this was back in the 1700s.Back to the exhibition, and there’s over 120 works currently showing at the Tate Britain. While these include around sixty Fuselis’, including ‘Titania and Bottom’, ‘The Three Witches’ and ‘The Shepard’s Dream’, there’s a good selection from his contemporaries; George Romney, John Flaxman, Theodore von Holst, and, and perhaps most importantly, William Blake.
Gothic Nightmares runs until 1st May.
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