Medusa with the Head of Perseus, Luciano Garbati, 2008
I adore how she carries his head low, at her side, and not aloft in triumph. This is not a self-aggrandizing hero lauding her great deed. This is a woman who wanted to be left the fuck alone.
Also look at her body. The double hips. The asymetrical boobs. She’s thin, but she’s realistic as hell. That’s a real woman.
And the look in her eyes. Damn.
I originally saw photos of Garbati’s Medusa a long time ago, but I specifically remember this post from earlier this year. Medusa was one of those pieces that really buried into my head and heart. Sounds silly, but just looking at it gives me strength.
Today I was lucky enough to see it in person. She’s incredible. And, something that the original pictures don’t show— she’s HUGE!
Update: Luciano Garbati, the sculptor behind this brilliant piece, just announced that he received permission from the City of NY to temporarily install a 7-foot tall bronze version of Medusa for the public to enjoy!
She’s waiting in a warehouse for COVID to chill out before installation in the park across from the New York County Criminal Courthouse, which is where Harvey Weinstein was tried. Full announcement here.
To clarify: the woman standing next to the statue is me! I’m not the artist. The artist is Luciano Garbati, a man, and he modeled Perseus’ head after his own face.
There are many versions of the Medusa myth. In some, she was born the only mortal Gorgon and lived with her immortal sisters. In other versions, like Ovid’s, she was a beautiful human who was cursed by Athena as punishment for… being abused by Poseidon (ancient morality was a trip). Mythology isn’t based on fact, so none of these versions is “right” because they’re all “right.”
Luciano based his art on Ovid’s telling. Medusa was not a villain in this version, and she’s actually not a villain in most versions (in fact, her face was often used as a token of protection, because that’s what her name literally means). She’s a tragic figure who lives in a cave, cursed, and people are only turned to stone when they approach her cave or the path to it because they looked at her. Nowhere in Ovid’s tale does it say she deliberately sought to hurt anyone, nor did she know why Perseus came to kill her. Perseus was doing what he thought he had to do to help his mother; that also doesn’t make him a hero or villain, but Luciano’s art gives us a new version of Medusa where she is empowered with agency. Greek mythology is full of complex and tragic characters, of people making difficult and sometimes impossible decisions. That’s what makes it interesting.
