MYTH - MUSINGS & CONTEMPLATIONS
by Leon Steinmetz
November 6th – December 7th, 2014
MYTH - MUSINGS & CONTEMPLATIONS is an exhibition of new work by Leon Steinmetz. Throughout history, myth – the collective consciousness of people - is kept alive by word-of-mouth, music and the visual image. Myths are stories about relationships, divine or otherwise, that contemplate human condition. Myth, as story, can be thought of as theatre, and Steinmetz’s characters are filled with emotions.
The Judgement of Paris – the decision of a handsome young shepherd to proclaim Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love, more beautiful than her rivals, the Goddesses Athena and Hera – has fascinated artists, poets, and composers for centuries. In his new series, Steinmetz presents this dreamy, hazy event from the perspective of the 21st century artist. Dovetailed to that, is a triptych, called Artist Contemplating Vanity. After all, it was Goddesses’ vanity that led to the Trojan War, immortalized in Homer’s epic.
In his series based upon classical Greek Vases, the artist presents a modern interpretation of storytelling as a painted surface. His vases are cracked, decayed and cryptic, so that the discovery of the new seems to be literally retold through the ancient. What might at first to appear blurred, suggestions of hectic and contemporary life, with investigation reveals an interplay between the ancient and the modern.
Steinmetz’s series of Royalty playing cards, in pen and ink as well as in color, combines playfulness with the grotesque. His royals are either exuberant or in decay representing “memento mori” played out in card games.
This exhibition is a continuation of Leon Steinmetz’s contemplations on ancient and contemporary, tragic and comic, timeless and fleeting.
