Rob Verf, a Dutch artist based in Argentina, uses the potential of one of the gallery’s small spaces to evoke an environment on a domestic scale, in this project, The Taste of Red, he presents three paintings based on the work The Potato Eaters by his compatriot Vincent Van Gogh.

The themes of Verf’s recent work are environmental pollution; the effects of conscienceless consumerism and its flip side, unethical marketing; the distortions in bodies and environments resulting from human activities brought about by this period called the Anthropocene.

Verf’s work develops at the intersection between reflections on the painting tradition of his native country – the treatment of pictorial spaces to reflect a time and a state of mind – on the environmental crisis and on the biological processes of the human body. In Verf’s paintings, the potato-eaters are located in a space that resonates with the of the domestic realm of Van Gogh’s work but have been transformed into abstract schemes
impregnated with an artificial and suspicious red luminosity.

The red to which Verf refers in this project is Red 40 E-129, a chemical pigment used in the food industry. Research has shown that it is related to certain symptoms of ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) and possible genotoxic effects. People can check the content of red dye 40 E-129 on food labels if they wish to limit their consumption. In fact, in the European Union, this dye is allowed as an additive in human food, but, surprisingly, it is banned in animal feed. In the center of the room – replacing the dining table with Van Gogh’s potatoes – a bowl of red candy will tempt visitors. Even in this context that illuminates their potential toxicity, will they serve themselves?