“It’s not that we have a short time to live, but that we waste much of it,” wrote stoic philosopher Lucius Seneca. This quote is from his essay “De Brevitate Vitae,” or “On the Shortness of Life,” penned around 49 A.D. Seneca’s reflections on the wise use of time remain relevant nearly 2,000 years later. For the artist Marc Padeu, this theme of humanity’s illusory control over time is central to his new series, Memento Vivere, which goes on display tomorrow at Larkin Durey.
Padeu is recognized for blending everyday life scenes with elements from Renaissance religious art. Among his latest creations, “La promesse et l’agneau” (“The promise and the lamb”) is a notable continuation of this approach. The artwork features a young child seated on his mother’s lap, surrounded by adults bearing gifts, a composition reminiscent of the Adoration of the Magi or the nativity scene.
The exhibition’s title, which means “remember to live” in Latin, pays homage to Seneca and encourages viewers to seize life’s opportunities. This concept contrasts with the more familiar memento mori, or “remember you will die,” which similarly reminds us of life’s fleeting nature and the futility of material pursuits after death. Instead, it emphasizes cherishing what truly matters: family, nature, and craftsmanship.
Padeu’s artworks depict individuals and communities laboring on cocoa plantations in Cameroon, his homeland. The gallery describes how “days follow one another, harvests come round again and yet, despite this ebb and flow of life, his figures are caught outside of time, slipping between past, present and future.” His paintings convey a sense of divine birth and the mysterious sublime. “Each painting is poised between promise and fate, light and shade; the figures existing simultaneously in a spiritual and secular realm, neither saints nor heroes but with a growing awareness that life is a fragile gift.”
Memento Vivere opens on July 17 and runs until August 14 in London. Discover more about the artist on Instagram.
