Guests at the dinner held at 2 Brydges Place after the Friday (13 November) opening of David Harrison’s Flowers of Evil exhibition at Victoria Miro had no idea of the atrocities simultaneously unfolding across the channel as they delighted in the opulent décor made to go along with the Charles Baudelaire-inspired imagery of the artist's paintings. The interior was created by the artist in response to the specially chosen opening date Friday 13th, which is referred to in Baudelaire’s poem L'Examen de minuit (the midnight examination) published in Les Fleurs du mal (the flowers of evil). Each diner had also been provided with a hand-blown glass bottle of Enchanter’s Nightshade, a delicious perfume blended by Harrison for the occasion, which made the top floor of the Covent Garden member’s club even more giddily hedonistic.
In retrospect, appreciating the fine and voluptuous things in life—food, wine, perfume—that are so synonymous with the city of Paris, and in an atmosphere that specifically paid homage to one of the city’s greatest poets and free spirits, was an appropriate way to defy those who would try to deprive all of us of our liberty to live in the way we choose. Vive Paris and vive la joie de vivre!