Roman Campagna

Adrian Ghenie’s exhibition "Roman Campagna" at Thaddaeus Ropac Marais, Paris, presents new paintings and drawings created following his relocation to Rome. The series explores landscape painting as both subject and form, reinterpreting art-historical references through Ghenie’s distinctive painterly language, creating works that balance pastoral idealism with contemporary unease.

The exhibition features oil paintings depicting figures on the Appian Way, referencing artists like Nicolas Poussin and Claude Lorrain. Ghenie engages with the concept of the ‘invented landscape’ and the tradition of the capriccio, blending real and imagined elements. Contemporary figures in modern attire are juxtaposed with ancient ruins, grounding the abstracted scenes in the present. The works also draw inspiration from artists such as Philip Guston and Pablo Picasso, and Roman mosaics, exploring themes of humour, history, and the texture of time through Ghenie’s layered and deconstructed style.