The Myth Purged
July 16 - October 15, 2023
Lannie Hart’s exhibition,“The Myth Purged”, examines the perception of women in contem-porary society as informed by their portrayal in history and myth.
The origin of life, leading to the birth of Eve in the Old Testament, is an enduring cultural touchstone, a moral tale with abiding mythological influence. In the sculpture “The Birth of Eve”, Hart maintains that woman came from water as all life does, not a man’s rib. In her painting “Adam and Eve”, Hart addresses how, through the ages, the story of the “fall from grace” has continued to exist through cultural attitudes toward women. Even in contemporary society, the belief in woman’s culpability for that fall endures.
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MEET THE ARTIST
Lannie Hart
Lannie Hart began her career as a fibre sculptor which culminated in a two person show at Julie Artisan’s Gallery in NYC. She has had her work shown at The Museum of Contemporary Crafts in NYC. Her more recent work has been shown at the Katonah Museum, Katonah, NY, Richmond Museum of Art, Richmond, VA, Sculptors Guild, NYC, A.I.R., Brooklyn, NY and The Silvermine Gallery, New Canaan, CT.
ARTIST STATEMENT
Lannie Hart’s exhibition,“The Myth Purged”, examines the perception of women in contem-porary society as informed by their portrayal in history and myth.
The origin of life, leading to the birth of Eve in the Old Testament, is an enduring cultural touchstone, a moral tale with abiding mythological influence. In the sculpture “The Birth of Eve”, Hart maintains that woman came from water as all life does, not a man’s rib. In her painting “Adam and Eve”, Hart addresses how, through the ages, the story of the “fall from grace” has continued to exist through cultural attitudes toward women. Even in contempo-rary society, the belief in woman’s culpability for that fall endures.
In Hart’s sculpture “Helen of Troy”, she focuses on Helen’s supreme beauty and its conse-quences. Helen embodies the ambiguity of the female’s plight as the ultimate object of desire, as she pursues desires of her own. Therefore, she must be captured and controlled.
The gender-breaking “Joan of Arc” became the icon for the early suffrage movement and the smashing of the traditional role for women. As Hart portrays her in this sculpture, Joan has become more than a folk heroine of history; she has in fact become a modern-day role model.
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