The Rose of Time
Gregg Chadwick 76cm x 61cm oil on linen 2010 Currently on exhibit at Manifesta Maastricht, the Netherlands A Bowl of Roses by Rainer Maria Rilke You saw angry ones flare, saw two boys clump themselves together into a something that was pure hate, thrashing in the dirt like an animal set upon by bees; actors, piled up exaggerators, careening horses crashed to the ground, their gaze thrown away, baring their teeth as if the skull peeled itself out through the mouth. But now you know how these things are forgotten: for here before you stands a bowl full of roses, which is unforgettable and filled up with ultimate instances of being and bowing down, of offering themselves, of being unable to give, of standing there almost as part of us: ultimates for us too. Noiseless life, opening without end, filling space without taking any away from the space the other things in it diminish, almost without an outline, like something omitted, and pure inwardness, with so much curious softness, shining i...