Saturday, August 1, 2009
No.1: Pygmalion And His Statues
Vinyl On Canvas 46cm X 72cm
Pygmalion was the King of Cyprus and a sculptor .He was also the high priest to the island's goddess Aphrodite. Disillusioned with the women around him and unable to find a suitable wife he created an ideal woman from marble. He prayed to Aphrodite that he could find such a woman . His prayers not answered, he embraced and kissed the statue and in despair wept inconsolably until he fell asleep . When he eventually awoke he found that Aphrodite had breathed life into the woman of his wildest dreams....
No.4: Narcissus
Oil On Canvas, 35cm X 46cm
Narcissus , a handsome young man grew more conceited as he continued to reject all the young women who approached him for his love. When he saw his reflection one day , he was infatuated by his own beauty .His vanity and ruthlessness was punished by the goddess of justice, Nemesis ,who made him suffer the same fate of those whom he had rejected and left with broken hearts .For his reflection , the object of his passion, had become impossible to attain.....
Friday, July 31, 2009
No.8: Eros And Psyche
Vinyl On Canvas, 40cm X 50cm
Eros (Love),was the son of Aphrodite , the goddess of love and beauty .He had the power to make gods or mortals fall in love once struck by his arrow. His mother , Aphrodite hearing rumours that a mere mortal woman named Psyche (soul),had a reputation of being more beautiful than herself became very vexed.She ordered Eros to deal with her once and for all. She asked him to find Psyche and pierce her with an arrow making sure that a hideous creature would be close by so that she can fall for the monster.Having approached Psyche who was sleeping in a wood, Eros was stunned by her beauty, stumbled and grazed himself with his own arrow, helplessly falling in love with Psyche........
No.11: Thetis
Vinyl on canvas, 40cm X 50cm
Before Zeus ,Hades and Poseidon divided the earth sea and sky amongst themselves ,there were other sea gods, including Oceanus ,the creator of all the world's waters.Another sea god was Nereus, the kindly old man of the seas who would help sailors in distress.Nereus had fifty daughters who were known as the the beautiful Nereids or Sea Nymphs.Thetis was the Nereid whom Poseidon initially wanted to marry .Like many gods in human history , Poseidon was intensely jealous and insecure.He cancelled his plans of marrying Thetis after hearing of a prophecy that her first born son would grow to be greater than his father.....
Sunday, July 26, 2009
No.15: Aphrodite And Ares
Oil on canvas, 50cm X 70cm
Hera , the wife of Zeus decreed that Aphrodite should marry Haephestus ,the god of art and craft in order to avoid the conflict and hostility that was developing amongst other gods that yearned for Aphrodite's hand in marriage. .Haephestus, although a very talented and good natured god was not young or handsome and also had various physical frailties . The arranged marriage went ahead , but Aphrodite secretly fell for the more attractive , hot headed ,virile Ares , the god of war . Haephestus gathered that the two were having an illicit love affair and with his immortal skills devised an invisible net made of bronze and waited hidden, to catch them in the act . As he pulled the lever , he trapped them both and invited the rest of the gods to amuse themselves as he exhibited the ensnared lovers..........
Saturday, July 25, 2009
No.17: Pan
Oil on canvas, 51cm X 66cm
Pan was known as the wild god of Arcadia in central, southern Greece. He was renouned for being a down to earth god , preferriing to mix with the common folk of the country side .He loved to enjoy himself, and at nights he would revel with the mortals and nymphs in the woods, singing , dancing and drinking .He was also a musician and remembered for the musical pipes which were named after him . At times he would hide away amongst the trees and when a stranger passed by he would terrify them and cause fear ,dread and terror with his wild , primordial ,unearthly cry and cause 'Panic'.......
Friday, July 24, 2009
No.24 : Wood Nymphs
Vinyl on board ,64cm X 38cm
Wood Nymphs were often associated with Pan the wild god .They were known for accompanying him on his wild celebrations in the territories around Acadia , they were young , beautiful, musical, amorous, and could also be gentle and nurturing, although some were associated with the wilder aspects of nature often playing an influential part in the trials , tribulations and ultimate fate in the progress of the lives of many gods as well as mere mortals.......
No.28: The Death Of Uranus
Vinyl on canvas , 40cm X 50cm
In the beginning there was chaos; a whirling mass of nothing.From chaos , Gaia (The mother earth) naturally emerged.Her son, Uranus (sky) created the earth and all the plants and animals upon it . Gaia also gave birth to many other immortals including the three headed giants, and her beloved children, the one eyed monsters called the Cyclops.The Cyclops were loathed by Uranus and he banished them into Hades , the underworld.Mother earth bore Uranus twelve more children including Oceanus , Cronus and Rhea who where known as the Titans.Because of the harsh treatment meted out to her earlier children the Cyclops ,Gaia never forgave Uranus.She persuaded the Titans to take their revenge.Cronus ,the youngest of the Titans led them and attacked Uranus wounding him fatally .Cronus now ruled the gods with Rhea as his wife.However , his was an uneasy reign, for as Uranus breathed his last , he prophesised that one of Cronus's sons would one day overthrow him and take his place as king of the gods............
No. 31 : Charon Of The Underworld
Vinyl on canvas, 50cm X 40cm
Hades was the god of the underworld, it was also the name of the underworld itself.
When somebody died , at the burial a small coin or 'obol' would be placed into the mouth of the deceased.Hermes , the messenger god would then guide the soul or 'shade' of the dead person to Hades.Deep in the underworld it was dark and damp with many caves and rivers. Charon , the ferry man would collect the payment of the obol from the dead and take the shade across the river Styx for judgement .At the banks of the river Styx were the large gates of Hades guarded by Cerberus , the three headed dog. The duty of Cerberus was to prevent shades from making their way back from Hades to the land of the living .
Once the shade had reached the palace of the wise judges of the underworld , Rhadamanthus , Aeacus and Minos their eternal fate would be decided . The majority of ordinary folk who had not made outstanding contributions to society and neither angered the gods in any way , the wise judges would send to the plains of Asphodel. This was a place of mist with withered trees with weeping branches in a flat , grey land. There was no particular torment apart from boredom and bleakness. Many shades would have preferred to escape if they could.
The shades of the glorious , those who had pleased the gods by performing great deeds or acts of heroism and self sacrifice would reach the Elysian fields, a true paradise of sun, bright blue skies , music , wine ,splendorous food and eternal enjoyment.An additional privilege of being sent to the Elysian fields was having the choice to return to the land of the living ,and of course, of all those that had arrived in the Elysian fields , none ever chose to leave.
Finally for the shades that had been wicked or had dared to defy or anger the gods , there was Tartarus, a place of eternal punishment and damnation, enclosed within a vast bronze wall ,from where the cries of anguish echoed constantly and no shade was ever known to have escaped...............
Thursday, July 23, 2009
No.34: Zeus
Vinyl on board, 38cm X 60cm
After the death of Uranus , his successor Cronus lived in fear of being deposed by one of his own sons, as predicted by Uranus. To prevent this, Cronus decided to destroy all the children that Rhea gave birth to .He would snatch the newly born babies from Rhea's arms and swallow them whole. Shocked by his brutality , Rhea planned to save her sixth child. Just before giving birth, she fled to Mount Lyceum in Aracadia , central southern Greece.
It was there that Zeus was born. He was left hidden in a remote cave under the care of the nymphs Adrasteia , Io and Amaltheia. Cronus felt safe for a while until he discovered what Rhea had done. In a fit of rage he searched the universe to find his son . Fearing that he was getting closer , Rhea devised a plan to deceive him. She wrapped up a large stone in layers of padding, covered it with a blanket and presented it to Cronus who immediately swallowed it as he did with all previous children. Again Cronus felt relieved from his eventual fate .While in fact time passed and Zeus grew to manhood and learnt of what had happened to his newly born siblings and was determined to seek revenge and rescue them.
Disguised as a servant , He presented himself to Cronus one day, and with Rhea's recommendation Zeus was entrusted to serve Cronus with food and drink , a potion was prepared and as Cronus drank it he became violently sick, spewing up Poseidon, Hades, Hera ,Demeter and Hestia all unharmed , safe and healthy .Thus followed the battle between the Titans and new gods of which eventually the new gods would win. Cronus was spared further punishment and luckily for him,although he was sent to Hades, he resided in the Elysian fields.
Zeus remained victorious and reigns until this present day the everlasting Supreme god , wise ,male , white , European ,almighty ,all knowing, all seeing and merciful but ruthless and unforgiving.Compassionate, callous and also intensely jealous,uncaring and self obsessed , vain ,insecure and in need of being worshipped, with the ability to control all destiny of mere mortals but at the same time allowing them free will , a truly paradoxical , modern 21st century god..............
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
No.38: Laocoon
Vinyl on canvas ,40cm x 50cm
Laocoon was a Trojan and high priest to Poseidon the sea god.Having seen the colossal wooden horse that the Achaean Greeks had left outside the walls of Troy he became suspicious. He warned the Trojans not to trust the Greeks even if they came bearing gifts and advised them not bring the horse inside the city gates as he feared a cunning plan. He was totally ignored by the Trojan chiefs and in contempt , he approached the large wooden horse accompanied by his two sons , and hurled his spear toward it. This action angered the god and from the depth of the sea, Poseidon sent two serpents to devour him and his two sons..............
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