+ Follow

Ancient Greek vase painting of the Classical period is so self-sufficient that it has a significance independent of the shape of the vessel. This visual peculiarity of the painting enables the artist to combine ancient and modern motifs in a single sculptural composition.

The central section contains the image of an athlete. This is a somewhat modified quote: a red-figure kylix by the artist Kleomelos, 510–500 BCE, the Athenian School, the Louvre collection, # G111. A classical example of a balanced composition in a circle. This is followed, after a blank space, by the second complete fragment: a circular frieze with identical figures of sporting heroes. It reflects the beginning of the merger of the ancient and the modern, the flat and the 3-dimensional; the emergence of depth, and the creation of the effect of transparency. The particular attributes of the athletes are distinctly modern, since the Winter Olympics are a quintessentially modern phenomenon. Then, the symbols of curling naturally appear, laid out graphically on ice. The stones aim to reach the house, returning to the image inspired by the Ancient Greek author. The brushes create the effect of presence, making us privy to the dialogue of the "imaginary hero"; all the parts of the artwork engage in a rhythmic interplay. The goal of our experiment was not the search for "ideal" beauty in the vanished world of antiquity. Rather, we analyzed cultural interaction within the framework of the plastic arts: where cultures do not try to monopolize the conversation, but participate in a dialogue.

 

 

A Dialogue

SH-ARTGROUP

2022 © SH-ARTGROUP