Olivia Musgrave Metamorphosis

John Martin Gallery

Metamorphosis, Recent Bronzes, 2017– 2020

Such a private activity this art making. I come impossible stories draw me in, time and again out of the little cocoon, my studio, every few and, like an obsessed opera lover, one forgives years and present those things that have the stories if the music is sublime. preoccupied my time, thoughts and efforts for so long. It’s also the time to see the work Sculpture perfectly lends itself to these tales. together, with fresh eyes, to think about how The process of bronze-making is itself a ones work is developing, and what I should magical metamorphosis, as ideas move from share with the outside world. a sketch to a fragile design in clay which then reappears in bronze from its mould. A Has there been a significant change, a radical technique as ancient and as enduring as the departure? I fear the answer to this must be stories themselves. no. Lifelong themes endure, variations on past sculptures are revisited. Does this matter? The story of humanity is bound up in The few years since my last exhibition have Greece’s ancient myths. It’s there to be found sped by and I find the joy in what I am in the heroes, Gods, the land, shepherds and doing as engrossing as it has always been. I animals. It provides an inexhaustible material am in my happiest place. The desire to push for a sculptor, perhaps too much. One day the boundaries of sculpture is now less of a maybe I will work on one idea alone and concern but the wish to explore things that I create a whole exhibition around it, like a love and that matter to me, is stronger than completely self-contained world. From this ever. there might emerge a better understanding of whatever it is that produced the sculptures in The mythical transformations imagined the first place. γνῶθι σεαυτόν (know thyself) by Ovid in his Metamorphoses present a as the Delphic Oracle said. The most difficult dizzying amount of material, enough for thing of all. I am still attempting to reach it. many lifetimes in the studio. The stories describe tragedy, love, lust and power, Olivia Musgrave alongside the trivial and comic and then the inevitable hubris when mankind overreaches itself. Of course, they are absurd, but these

Amazon Reading bronze, edition of 9 17 x 30 x 5½ inches, 46 x 61 x 14 cms

Amphitrite, Queen of the Waves bronze, edition of 12 8¾ x 13¾ x 3½inches, 22 x 35 x 9 cms

Amphitrite would calm Poseidon’s tempestuous rages, lulling him to sleep and so calming the oceans. Amazon on Rearing Horse bronze, edition of 9 25 x 21 x 10 inches, 64 x 53 x 26 cms

Io and the Gadfly bronze, edition of 9 15¼ x 21¼ x 10 inches, 39 x 54 x 26 cms

Zeus became infatuated with Io, daughter of the King of Argos. To protect Io from the wrath of his wife, Hera, Zeus disguised her as a white heifer. Hera discovered the ruse and asked Zeus for the cow as a present, whereupon she forced Io to wander the world perpetually bothered by a gadfly.

Dionysus’s Goat bronze, edition of 9 22 x 17 x 5 inches, 56 x 43 x 13 cms

The Embrace bronze, edition of 9 15 x 19¾ x 5¾ inches, 39 x 50 x 14 cms

Amazon with Seated Horse bronze, edition of 9 12¼ x 10 x 7¼ inches, 31 x 25 x 18.5 cms

Diana and Actaeon bronze, edition of 9 13¼ x 20 x 8¼ inches, 34 x 51 x 21 cms

Diana, Goddess of Hunting, was seen bathing with her nymphs by the shepherd Actaeon. In revenge she turned him into a stag, setting off in pursuit with her hounds.

The Andros Goat Maquette 1 bronze, edition of 12 13¼ x 16 x 5½ inches, 34 x 40 x 14 cms The Andros Goat (next page, the first edition in Andros) bronze, edition of 5 36 x 35 x 11 inches, 93 x 90 x 30 cms

Leda and the Swan (detail) bronze relief, edition of 9 21¼ x 12½ x 1 inches, 54 x 32 x 2.5 cms Centauress bronze, edition of 9 14½ x 10¼ x 4½ inches, 37 x 26 x 11.5 cms

Europa and the Bull bronze, edition of 12 14¼ x 15 x 6 inches, 36 x 38 x 15 cms

Zeus fell in love with the beautiful Europa and, transformed as a white bull he abducted Europa taking her across the sea to Crete where she bore him three sons, Minos, Sarpedon and Rhadamanthys.

Glaucos and Scylla bronze, edition of 9 11½ x 9 x 5½ inches, 29 x 23 x 14 cms

The fisherman Glaucus discovered a herb to make him immortal, though it gave him a serpent’s tail. The tail so repelled the nymph Scylla, that Glaucus asked Circe to make him a love potion. Circe, herself infatuated with Glaucus, instead created a potion which would transform Scylla into a monster. Lot’s Wife bronze, edition of 9, 42 x 14 x 7 cms Io and the Gadfly Maquette bronze, edition of 12 11 x 16¼ x 6¾ inches, 28 x 41 x 17 cms Daphne bronze, edition of 12 13¼ x 14½ x 13¾ inches, 34 x 37 x 35 cms

Apollo fell in love with Daphne, a river nymph. Despite her rejjection, Apollo was relentless in pursuit until, in desperation she cried out for her Father’s protection, and she was transformed into a laurel tree. Time to Fly, Pygmalion bronze relief, edition of 9 21¼ x 12½ x 1 inches, 54 x 32 x 2.5 cms

The sculptor, Pygmalion, created an ivory carving so beautiful that he made an offering to Venus asking her to let him find a woman just like his creation. On returning to his studio, he kissed the statue and discovered Venus had granted his wish and she leapt off her plinth into his arms. Pygmalion bronze, edition of 9 16 x 8½ x 4¼ inches, 41 x 22 x 11 cms The Brightest Star Burns the Fastest, The Fall of Phaeton bronze relief, edition of 9 20 x 15¼ x 1 inches, 51 x 39 x 2.5 cms When a Kiss is More than a Kiss, Io and Zeus Bronze Relief, Edition of 9 20 x 15¼ x 1 inches, 51 x 39 x 2.5 cms Leda and the Swan Bronze Relief, Edition of 9 21¼ x 12½ x 1 inches, 54 x 32 x 2.5 cms

When a Kiss is More Than a Kiss, Io and Zeus bronze relief, edition of 9 20 x 15¼ x 1 inches, 51 x 39 x 2.5 cms Olivia Musgrave working on the clay model for Glaucus and Scylla, March 2019 Digital catalogue printed for the exhibition Olivia Musgrave, Metamorphosis, Recent Bronze Editions 2017–2020 at John Martin Gallery, London 27 February–21 March 2020 Sculpture photographed by Matt Pia Exhibition photographs by Dan Weill All enquiries Laura Selby, [email protected] Sizes given indicate height, width and depth and include base size.

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