Home » Arts & Life » Zeus as a mob boss, and other Greek myths

Zeus as a mob boss, and other Greek myths

Artist Sarah Kane puts modern twist on ancient stories
December 7, 2009
By Mark Filipowich

With the cultural debt the modern West owes to ancient Greece, it’s no surprise that allusions to the Greeks and their mythology continue to resurface in art.

Visual artist Sarah Kane has based her latest work, Something Wicked this Way Comes, on the familiar motif of Greek mythology with an interesting new twist. Her exhibit debuts at the London Arts Project today.

“[The exhibit] is sort of a collection of my take on some of the Greek myths. It’s one of a series I’m going to be doing,” Kane explains. The piece is a narrative following the events of several familiar figures in Greek mythology.

Kane focuses on four different characters: Zeus, Pandora, the Moirae and Aphrodite. However, she is modernizing the ancient characters.

“For instance, Zeus, the ruler of all gods, in my show is actually a mob boss,” she explains.

Kane emphasizes with every show she does, she has a specific direction in mind for her work.

“I don’t just get a collection of my work and do a mish-mash,” she says. “I like to tell a story in every show that I do.

“I am going to be telling people the history of how the characters initially were [as gods] and then kind of leave it up to the viewer [to interpret] my spinoff of the characters,” she says of her latest exhibit.

Kane works almost entirely with graphite and acrylic — Something Wicked, which she developed over the past year, is no exception.

The process of bringing her ideas to life is a difficult one, beginning with photographs of her ideas and ending with a finished piece on canvas.

“I start by doing photo shoots. I manipulate the photos and then from there I make edits as I’m actually working on graphite or on the acrylic painting,” Kane says. “Then [I] make changes from there.”

Kane explains the longer, more complicated process works better for her than just purging her ideas onto a canvas.

“I tend to visualize, almost like it’s a scene from a movie,” she says. “When I go out to do the photo shoot it’s very much like a live action experience.”

She adds that working with photos and editing on the move makes her art feel more visceral to her.

“I sometimes envy those who can just sit in front of a canvas and let it flow because I’ve never been able to do that,” she laughs. “I kind of get an idea in my head and I try really hard to get it out.”

Her effort, coupled with her creative concept, provides a fresh perspective on the widely familiar and timeless ancient myths.

The exhibit opens today and runs until Dec. 19 at The Arts Project. Opening reception is tonight from 7-9 p.m. The Arts Project is located at 203 Dundas St.

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