Last Clown on Earth

• Lucy Ribchester
• 8 August 2017

This article is from 2017

Obscure but heartfelt existential meditation from Derevo

Anton Adasinsky's distinctive style is probably not for those who believe a clown is there to entertain them. His company, Derevo, has developed a practice of pushing images towards the limits of comfort and absurdity, and – as in the course of all experimental art – there are times when it works better than others.

Last Clown on Earth is a solo show for Adasinsky, set in a post-apocalyptic landscape, overlapping and snapping through images of destruction, religion, damnation and regeneration. He starts this endgame as a tramp, tipping the filthy spoils of his bag over the audience – note: don't wear your good clothes.

He has a go at recreating the Garden of Eden; in the guise of an old Greek man he delivers a monologue on death from a toy Ferrari. He tries to stage a metaphor for his own death, then a funeral complete with bunting and audience-wailing.

It's more of a hotchpotch than some of Derevo's previous work, but the gleam of Adasinsky's physical talent, and the force of his own conviction in his ideas, mean that underneath its obscure and alienating layers there is still a grimy heart that keeps Last Clown pulsing along.

Pleasance Courtyard, until 28 Aug (not 14, 21), 5.40pm, £10--£13 (£9--£12).