Sep. 7, 2013 - Dec. 14, 2013
Born in Germany in 1964, lives and works in Berlin
Deprived Of Any Idea, They Rode Mindlessly Along the Crossroads With Their Steel- Entwined Sticks, from the series “MEDEA,” 2005-2013
digital print
In Greek mythology, Medea is the daughter of King Aeëtes of Colchis and the granddaughter of the sun god Helios. She marries the hero Jason, who fathers her two children, Mermeros and Pheres. In Euripides’ play Medea, Jason leaves Medea for Glauce, the daughter of King Creon of Corinth. When Creon banishes Medea and her children from the city, she pleads for mercy and is granted one more day to stay in Corinth. She succeeds in killing Creon and his daughter, and then avenges her husband’s betrayal by killing her own two children and fleeing the city.
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The figure of Medea represents several different conflicts, which are all given expression in Euripides’ tragedy: the conflict between motherhood and revenge, the clash between different cultures, and gender-related problems that were as acute in ancient Greece as they are today. Like all myths, this play reveals unpalatable truths about human nature, while examining the conflict between the desire for revenge, the determination to redress a wrong, and moral duty. Euripides’ Medea has what may be described as a maniacal, almost evil aura, and her gruesome act of revenge lends this play its tragic character.
Stratmann’s work is part of a cycle of drawings concerned with the Medea theme. Each of these drawings evolves out of a single uninterrupted line that is completed in a single motion. In depicting Medea, Stratmann follows upon the numerous artists who were fascinated with this figure throughout the history of art, while creating a powerfully expressive, contemporary version of this ancient protagonist.
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