Harvard Allston Education Portal
November 13 – December 23, 2014
Opening reception – November 13, 2014
Public lecture by Professor Nagy on heroes and tragedy – November 10
Curated by Sasha Goldman
Original artwork by seven contemporary artists: Nancer Ballard, Monrud Becker, Sue-Yee Leung, Tsun ming Chmielinski, Gary Duehr, Eric Mauro and Ruth Segaloff .
The exhibition is inspired by the ancient Greek epic poems, Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey, which served as source material for some of the earliest themes in artwork.
The exhibition was planned to coincide with “The Ancient Greek Hero in 24 Hours,” a free online educational HarvardX course, also known as “HeroesX”. The course, directed by Harvard Professor Gregory Nagy, explores the unique meaning of “hero” in ancient Greece and how it enriches our understanding of what it means to be human today.
Curator Statement:
EPIC surveys the engagement of contemporary artists with themes of the heroic and mythological. Bringing together local and regional artists who work across varying media, the exhibition depicts the epic narratives of heroism through the imagery of strength – both physical and cerebral. The artists included in EPIC share an interest in ancient forms and traditions and collectively seek to engage with the timeless theme of the hero through their contemporary practices.
The epic poems of the ancient Greek author Homer serve as a point of departure for our conception of the hero. But since Homer wrote those historic words, the role of the hero has evolved and changed so greatly that our modern image of heroism encompasses a vast expanse of figures. EPIC is an examination of these variations on the historic and a sampling of contemporary narratives
Sasha Goldman, the Guest Curator, is a PhD candidate in Art History at Boston University and received her M.A. in Art History from Temple University and her B.A. in Art History from Connecticut College.