Earlier this fall, the contemporary gallery Unit hosted a group exhibition inspired by Dante Alighieri’s seminal 14th-century epic The Inferno—the first part of the poet’s famed Divine Comedy. The show, timed to coincide with this year’s edition of Frieze London, invited viewers to embark on a visceral journey through the nine circles of Hell as seen through the eyes of 15 artists hailing from all around the world. Titled “Dante’s Inferno,” the exhibition was on view from September 28 to November 3 at Unit’s Hanover Square gallery in Mayfair, London.
Falk Gernegroß, Im Garten, 2024. Mixed media on MDF. 50 x 70 cm. Courtesy of Unit.
An Immersive, Multisensory Group Exhibition Delving Into Dark Themes
For the show, each artist was tasked with presenting one of the circles of Hell through their own unique medium and perspective. Across paintings, sculptures, and mixed media, “Dante’s Inferno” delved into our contemporary perceptions of damnation—but the exhibition at large felt timeless in its suggestion of death, morality, and suffering. The show was wholly immersive in its bleakness, yielding a rich tapestry which juxtaposed historical and theological insights with fresh, modern artistic expressions.
Andrea Marie Breiling, Loose Slip, 2024, spray paint on canvas, 119.4 x 99.1cm. Courtesy of Unit.
A Highly Curated Array of Artists Across Disciplines
Among the featured artists were octogenarian oil painter Marcelle Hanselaar, the Bruegel-inspired painter YaYa Yajie Liang, Ukrainian artist Oleksii Shcherbak, and Becky Tucker, who presented two new glazed stoneware structures. Artworks from Albie Romero, Andrea Marie Breiling, Antony Micallef, Darcey Fleming, Erica Mao, Falk Gernegroß, Jake Wood-Evans, Kenrick McFarlane, Maggie Ellis, Marlene Hartmann Rasmussen, and Rex Southwick also brought “Dante’s Inferno” to life for modern audiences.
Marcelle Hanselaar, Forbidden Fruits 1, 2024. Oil on canvas, 74 x 64cm. Courtesy of Unit.
Artist Highlights from “Dante’s Inferno”
The exhibition opens with Revision Line (the view) (2024) by Andrea Marie Breiling, a moody and compelling work in which spray paint is streaked erratically across canvas, arriving in the color of dried blood. Another highlight is Rex Southwick’s Purgatorio (2024), a futuristic oil painting which imagines Dante’s mountain as a seaside villa. Not to be missed is Malene Hartmann Rasmussen’s Drille-djævel (Tease-Devil) (2024), a sculpture of a stoneware snake which nods to the creatures who live in the eighth circle of hell and torment deceptive souls. The snake’s expression is equal parts childlike and ominous, exemplifying the eerie atmosphere which permeates the atmosphere of the entire exhibition.
Photo by Darian Zahedi.
Kate Bryan in Conversation With Darcey Fleming
To commemorate her work being shown in the group exhibition, artist Darcey Fleming spoke to renowned art historian Kate Bryan on an exclusive panel at Unit during Frieze Week. Of note, Bryan was already familiar with Dante’s Inferno, having worked on the Sky Arts program “Dante and the Invention of Hell” in Florence. Fleming and Bryan also have both been involved with the Sarabande Foundation, Lee Alexander McQueen’s posthumous foundation created to support emerging artists and designers. During the panel, the two discussed “Dante’s Inferno” as well as poignant topics like sustainability, which surfaced through Fleming’s dedication to sourcing all her own materials for her work; having shunned traditional paint, she leans toward using sustainable materials sourced from farmers.
Photo by Darian Zahedi.
