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.
Colors:
Related works sharing similar palette
© » ANOTHER
The Story Behind Iconic 90s Images of Cameron Diaz, Heath Ledger and More | AnOther As his new exhibition opens in Milan, Michel Haddi tells us the story behind some of his most famous images of Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Moss, Janet Jackson and more December 11, 2023 Text Gary Grimes Michel Haddi , the legendary French-Algerian fashion photographer, is a big believer in the importance of first impressions...
© » KADIST
Zarouhie Abdalian, Rocky Cajigan, Jesse Chun, Nikita Gale, Shilpa Gupta, Baseera Khan, Tarik Kiswanson, Alexis Smith, and Cecilia Vicuña Be here, or even better, be nowhere brings together artists who employ sculpture, drawing, video, and sound to probe social and historical structures and infrastructures, such as migration, colonialism, carceral systems, and space militarization...
© » KADIST
Claudia Andujar
1984In 1980, with the construction of highways in Indigenous territories, an epidemic was brought to the Yanomami region...
© » SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
Novelist Tony Parsons on the 70s and Debbie Harry, love at first sight and why Hong Kong is his place | South China Morning Post Novelist Tony Parsons on the 70s and Debbie Harry, love at first sight and why Hong Kong is his place Profile The British writer recalls following punk rockers around in the drug-addled 70s, wild times in Wan Chai, falling in love, and finding his voice as a novelist Kate Whitehead + FOLLOW Published: 6:15am, 26 Nov, 2023 Why you can trust SCMP My dad was a Royal Navy commando and was badly wounded in the invasion of Elba (in Italy during World War II), in Operation Brassard...
© » LE MONDE
Sarah Brahim remonte ses souvenirs dans un maelström de gestes et de sons Cet article vous est offert Pour lire gratuitement cet article réservé aux abonnés, connectez-vous Se connecter Vous n'êtes pas inscrit sur Le Monde ? Inscrivez-vous gratuitement Article réservé aux abonnés Vue d’ensemble de « Sometimes We Are Eternal », exposition de Sarah Brahim, à Lugano (Suisse), en octobre 2023...
© » KADIST
Claudia Andujar
1984In 1980, with the construction of highways in Indigenous territories, an epidemic was brought to the Yanomami region...
© » KADIST
Hank Willis Thomas
2012Intentionally Left Blanc alludes to the technical process of its own (non)production; a procedure known as retro-reflective screen printing in which the image is only fully brought to life through its exposure to flash lighting...
© » KADIST
Martin Creed
2003This photograph of Martin Creed himself was used as the invitation card for a fundraising auction of works on paper at Christie’s South Kensington in support of Camden Arts Centre’s first year in a refurbished building in 2005...
