Medusa with the Head of Perseus
{{Short description|2008 Sculpture by Luciano Garbati}}
{{italic title}}
Medusa with the Head of Perseus is a sculpture created by Luciano Garbati in 2008. The statue depicts Medusa holding a sword and the head of Perseus, a role reversal of Greek legend. A bronze cast version is temporarily displayed in Collect Pond Park, Lower Manhattan.
The work has been linked to the Me Too movement.
Creation and description
The sculpture depicts a nude Medusa holding the head of Perseus in her right hand and a sword in her left. The original Medusa was sculpted in clay, then cast in resin with fibreglass reinforcements. The sculpture stands just over 2 metres tall.{{cite tweet |user=GarbatiLuciano |last=Garbati |first=Luciano |number=1016112090577285121 |date=8 July 2018 |title=Medusa con la cabeza de Perseo - Medusa holding Perseus’ head. Escultura de Luciano Garbati, 2.25 mts. Sculpture by Luciano Garbati, 92 inches. }}
Garbati grew up in a small town near Florence, where Benvenuto Cellini's Perseus with the Head of Medusa is prominently displayed in the Loggia Lanzi of the Piazza della Signoria; he admired Cellini's work, and wanted to reverse the roles of the narrative. In an interview with Quartz, he drew the distinction between Cellini's Perseus and his Medusa; in the former Perseus is triumphant, while in the latter Medusa is determined, and had acted in self defense.{{cite news |last1=Griffin |first1=Annaliese |title=The story behind the Medusa statue that has become the perfect avatar for women's rage |url=https://qz.com/quartzy/1408600/the-medusa-statue-that-became-a-symbol-of-feminist-rage/ |accessdate=14 October 2020 |work=Quartz |date=3 October 2020}} He would later state that he was unaware of Medusa's status as a feminist icon at the time.{{cite news |author1=Ceren Çıplak Drillat |title=Feminist Medusa |url=https://www.cumhuriyet.com.tr/haber/feminist-medusa-1228741 |accessdate=14 October 2020 |work=Cumhuriyet |date=2 February 2018}}
In New York City
A photograph of Medusa, captioned "Be thankful we only want equality and not payback", went viral on social media in 2018.{{cite news |last1=Gershon |first1=Livia |title=Why a New Statue of Medusa Is So Controversial |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/controversial-metoo-medusa-statue-unveiled-180976048/ |accessdate=14 October 2020 |work=Smithsonian Magazine |date=13 October 2020}} This image was seen by New York photographer Bek Andersen, who quickly got into contact with an anonymous patron of the arts.{{cite news |last1=Griner |first1=David |title=What the People Behind NYC's Polarizing New Medusa Statue Want You to Know About It |url=https://www.adweek.com/creativity/what-the-people-behind-nycs-polarizing-new-medusa-statue-want-you-to-know-about-it/ |accessdate=14 October 2020 |work=Adweek |date=12 October 2020}} Medusa was the centerpiece of Medusa With The Head, a pop-up exhibition in the Bowery that ran from November 2018 to January 2019.{{cite web |title=263 Bowery Pop-up Installation, November 2018- Jan 2019 |url=https://www.mwthproject.com/exhibition-2 |website=MWTH |accessdate=14 October 2020}}
Andersen and Garbati later collaborated on an application to New York City's Art in the Parks program. A bronze replica of Medusa was installed in Collect Pond Park, facing the New York County Criminal Court building.{{cite news |last1=Di Liscia |first1=Valentina |title=Across From the New York County Criminal Court, a Public Statue Reimagines the Myth of Medusa |url=https://hyperallergic.com/594050/medusa-sculpture-new-york-county-criminal-court/ |accessdate=14 October 2020 |work=Hyperallergic |date=12 October 2020}}{{cite news |last1=Jacobs |first1=Julia |title=How a Medusa Sculpture From a Decade Ago Became #MeToo Art |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/13/arts/design/medusa-statue-manhattan.html |accessdate=14 October 2020 |work=The New York Times |date=13 October 2020}} Some have drawn comparison between Medusa and the Harvey Weinstein sexual assault trial, which took place at the New York County Criminal Court.{{cite news |last1=Cascone |first1=Sarah |title=The Artist Behind a (Very Questionable) Nude Public Statue of Medusa as a Feminist Avenger Defends His Work |url=https://news.artnet.com/art-world/medusa-courthouse-statue-1914971 |accessdate=16 October 2020 |work=artnet |date=13 October 2020}}
References
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External links
- [https://www.lucianogarbati.com/medusa Photographs of the work]
- [https://www.mwthproject.com Official website of MWTH Project]