They tell the story of how the young hunter Actaeon stumbled upon Diana, the Goddess of the Hunt, bathing naked and was turned into a stag to be torn apart by his own dogs in revenge. They are part of a series of six works created for King Philip II of Spain in the 16th century and were deemed so racy they were covered up with a curtain in the presence of the ladies of the court.
Visitors to Wallinger's work can look through peepholes, blinds and a keyhole to catch a glimpse of the women who perform the role of Diana working in two-hour shifts. Wallinger said: ''Diana is about watching and being caught in the act and evolved out of my desire to find a way of representing Diana bathing in a contemporary way.'' He said there were very few rules for what his models could and could not do but they had to behave ''suitably goddess-ish''.
The artist said: ''I wanted a real naked person for people to have that relationship with.'' He said finding his real-life Dianas was difficult, adding: ''I did it initially through emails and contacts and then finally Twitter was the key that unlocked it.'' The show, called Metamorphosis: Titian is on at the gallery from this Wednesday to September 23.
4 comments:
OK, so there's the Diana; but where's the hounds to tear apart the stags? Oh,right, because this is about naked women--the myth not so much. More rape culture. Unless the voyeurs are punished, then this is nothing to do with the myth.
Why can't my name be Diana!
At some point somebody has to say, "I don't know much about art, but I know what I like."
"Six works created for King Philip II of Spain in the 16th century and were deemed so racy they were covered up with a curtain in the presence of the ladies of the court."
So the ladies couldn't see a painting of naked lady, but the men were allowed to leer at it as much as they liked?
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