Victor Man, spectral painter, at David Zwirner, London

For over twenty years, Victor Man has been painting to explore ideas of metamorphosis and death. His new, vibrant remarkable paintings are on view at David Zwirner in London.

Born in Romania and now based between Cluj and Rome, Man has built a universe of nocturnal hues: bruised blues, mossy greens, twilight greys. His figures seem suspended in the au-delà, between waking and dreaming, life and death.

In Umbra Vitae (2025), one of the highlights of this stunning show, the artist dissolves his own likeness into the X-ray of his beloved’s skull, a skeleton hand resting beneath his chin. Past, present, and future convene in one spectral image.

This alchemy extends to Maternity with Legend (2024), where an emerald-toned mother and child recall the melancholy Madonnas of Christian art… Or maybe Frida Kahlo and Luchita Hurtado’s motifs. A golden crawling figure hovers nearby, amplifying the sense that motherhood, like death, is less an event than a scene. His imagery carries not only pigments but saints, fragments of a symbolic archive he continuously explores. In Pietas (Flower of Gaza) (2025) a lifeless face, rendered in Man’s lunar palette, is tenderly caressed by a woman’s hand. Man’s works get political.

Across his practice, Man insists on painting’s ability to hold contradictions. His works remind us that images can remain mysterious while whispering tenderness and softness. Victor Man’s exhibition is on view at David Zwirner, London, from 18 September to 31 October.