Medusa with the Head of Perseus

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.[1]

Creation and description

The sculpture depicts a nude Medusa holding the head of Perseus in her right hand and a sword in her left.[1] The original Medusa was sculpted in clay, then cast in resin with fibreglass reinforcements.[2] The sculpture stands just over 2 metres tall.[3][2]

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.[2] He would later state that he was unaware of Medusa's status as a feminist icon at the time.[4]

In New York City

A photograph of Medusa, captioned "Be grateful we only want equality and not payback", went viral on social media in 2018.[5] This image was seen by New York photographer Bek Andersen, who quickly got into contact with an anonymous patron of the arts.[2][6] Medusa was the centerpiece of Medusa With The Head, a pop-up exhibition in the Bowery that ran from November 2018 to January 2019.[7]

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.[8][9] Some have drawn comparison between Medusa and the Harvey Weinstein sexual assault trial, which took place at the New York County Criminal Court.[1]

References
  1. Cascone, Sarah (13 October 2020). "The Artist Behind a (Very Questionable) Nude Public Statue of Medusa as a Feminist Avenger Defends His Work". artnet. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
  2. Griffin, Annaliese (3 October 2020). "The story behind the Medusa statue that has become the perfect avatar for women's rage". Quartz. Retrieved 14 October 2020.
  3. Garbati, Luciano [@GarbatiLuciano] (8 July 2018). "Medusa con la cabeza de Perseo - Medusa holding Perseus' head. Escultura de Luciano Garbati, 2.25 mts. Sculpture by Luciano Garbati, 92 inches" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  4. Ceren Çıplak Drillat (2 February 2018). "Feminist Medusa". Cumhuriyet. Retrieved 14 October 2020.
  5. Gershon, Livia (13 October 2020). "Why a New Statue of Medusa Is So Controversial". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved 14 October 2020.
  6. Griner, David (12 October 2020). "What the People Behind NYC's Polarizing New Medusa Statue Want You to Know About It". Adweek. Retrieved 14 October 2020.
  7. "263 Bowery Pop-up Installation, November 2018- Jan 2019". MWTH. Retrieved 14 October 2020.
  8. Di Liscia, Valentina (12 October 2020). "Across From the New York County Criminal Court, a Public Statue Reimagines the Myth of Medusa". Hyperallergic. Retrieved 14 October 2020.
  9. Jacobs, Julia (13 October 2020). "How a Medusa Sculpture From a Decade Ago Became #MeToo Art". The New York Times. Retrieved 14 October 2020.
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