Mars and Venus
Pencil on paper
150 cm x 200 cm
2010.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My artistic activity has always been preoccupied with something one could define as a series of questions, such as What is a woman? Who creates definitions, places and relationships in society? Where does the line between biological and cultural construction of gender lies in the contemporary society? In what way are relationships between woman and man articulated? I am interested in transposing various\/different historical models, myths and Biblical stories and forms from one context into another by choosing a sample\/example and subjecting it to transformation, reinterpretation, which, directed through various means, can be transferred into another context<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I try to change the context of stories which originated in Homer’s Odyssey, Ovid’s Metamorphosis or the Bible and put them in relation to the contemporary time by playing subtly with meanings. I invest interpretations of the written word with my own impressions and experiences and combine them with general norms. In my works ancient gods are depicted through contemporary prototypes, and dramatic events are reduced to a narrative genre scene which often implies a certain historical scene of the same subject by a specific iconographic sign. I tend to choose those stories which are close to my own preoccupations related to the depiction of women throughout history, such as goddess Venus (Mars and Venus), saints like Suzanne (Suzanne and the Elders) or the seamstress who waits the return of her husband from war (Penelope). Depending on the concept of an art work, I represent my own interpretations in figurative form, experimenting in the process with photography, computer graphics and drawing or combinations of them.
I most frequently use photography in order to obtain constituent elements of the composition which almost always form a sketch like grid upon which I develop my ideas, and vice versa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The drawing Mars and Venus is an interpretation of the ancient Roman myth of the same title which has throughout history been used in defining relationships between two sexes. The mythic story puts forward an act of adultery committed by the goddess of love, beauty, fertility and sexuality, Venus, and the god of war, Mars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In my interpretation of the myth I was inspired by Tinotetto’s humorous depiction of Mars and Venus showing the moment just before, Venus’ husband Vulcan discovers Mars hidden under the table and stared at by a dog.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My interpretation of the story is similar to Tintoretto’s. Situated in a forestial environment two human figures and a dog form a diagonal composition, the centre of which is taken by the dog. Standing under the tree and staring directly at the viewer the dog opens the composition and incorporates viewers in the symbolical story making them chief culprits of the infidelity. To the right side of the dog, shows Vulcan and remorseful Venus converse in a resigned manner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Analytical form of the drawing was created according to different planes. Realism of the foreground gradually wanes nearly to abstraction towards the background.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ines Matijevi\u0107 Caki\u0107<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Mars and VenusPencil on paper150 cm x 200 cm2010. My artistic activity has always been preoccupied with something one could define as a series of questions, such as What is a woman? Who creates definitions, places and relationships in society? Where does the line between biological and cultural construction of gender lies in the contemporary […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":559,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n