Priapus Agonistes
2013 - Film & Video (Film & Video)
15:09 minutes
Mary Reid Kelley
Priapus Agonistes by Mary Reid Kelley and Patrick Kelley is the first work in The Minotaur Trilogy (2013-2015), a trio of videos that reimagine the Greek myth of the Minotaur. The monstrous result of Queen Pasiphae’s infatuation with a bull, the Minotaur lived in a huge maze known as the Labyrinth where he would devour sacrificial offerings of youths and maidens. Traditionally, the story centers on Theseus and his heroic (and successful) quest to conquer the Minotaur, subsequently freeing the people of Athens from their obligations. However, in Reid Kelley’s retelling she focuses on the female characters in the story: Queen Pasiphae, her daughters Ariadne and the Minotaur (who in this tale is recast as half-woman, half-bull), and Venus the goddess of love who plays Poseidon’s role as an offended deity who wanted the beautiful bull for herself. In this interpretation the Minotaur is a creature to be pitied, not a vicious monster but instead a deluded, isolated figure facing desperate loneliness. Reid Kelley’s comedic story highlights the absurd and tragic dimensions of this tale. The exquisite sets and complex wordplay fuse contemporary references (Pasiphae resembles a young Iggy Azalea, Venus moonlights as an AVON lady) with classical, Victorian, and mythological records. The result is a mesmerizing video that uncannily reveals the stubborn endurance of sexual taboos and gender inequity throughout history.
Drawing from literature, plays, and historical events, Mary Reid Kelley makes rambunctious videos that explore the condition of women throughout history. They sardonically critique the view that recent social progress has resolved the unequal standing of women in society. Her work often involves intensive research and critical re-assessments of archetypal historical narratives—scholarship delivered as highly structured poetic verse, which serves as dialogue filled with contemporary cultural references. Her characters leap promiscuously through history and mythology, emphasizing moments of flux in gender roles and social structures. Working with videographer Patrick Kelley, Reid Kelley’s characters are usually all performed by her, disguised in elaborate costuming and makeup. They traverse animated and live-action landscapes created from the artist’s drawings and paintings. Initially trained as a painter, Reid Kelley’s stylized black-and-white visuals recall the crude aesthetics of early animation and the lo-tech look of amateur film. Teamed with her lexically complex scripts rife with historical references and wordplay, Reid Kelley’s works gesture to the instability of language and its role in history.
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