Mythos
Madeline Daversa • Barbara Ludwig • Joe Pomarico • William Randazzo • Maria Spector
Curated by John Cino
February 15 – April 19, 2025
Reception: February 15, 2025, 5:00 – 7:00PM
Coffee with a Curator: March 8, 2025, @ 12:00 PM (In person and on Zoom)
Mythos offers five artists whose work continues a narrative across multiple works.
Mythos is defined as a traditional or recurrent narrative theme or plot structure. It refers to a body of interconnected stories and is often associated with a particular religion or cultural tradition. The term mythos is preferred of myth, as myth is often defined an untruth. The eminent scholar on mythology, Joseph Campbell, defined four functions for traditional myths: the mystical (or metaphysical), the cosmological, the sociological, and the psychological. The current exhibition focuses on the last two. He suggests that the sociological imprints on the individual the norms of society. The psychological serves to guide individuals through stages of life within the context of the culture. Together these two functions of myth bind the individual to a culture or community.
Madeline Daversa turns her skill as a watercolorist into brilliant, light infused images of agricultural workers and fishermen from Long Island’s East End. In a region known for its mansions and celebrities Daversa reminds us of a vibrant economy which finds itself imperiled.
Barbara Ludwig photographs tableaus of family life created in a 1950’s metal dollhouse. A cursory glance at her images recalls a period of American history looked upon by many with nostalgia as ‘golden years’. A deeper look reveals that all is not well for the families and the nation.
Joe Pomarico with a background in cinematography, paints imagery derived from a variety of film genres. In Mythos he offers scenes from imaginary Westerns, fictions which have become substitutes for actual US history.
Willlam Randazzo creates images of cityscapes which float a variety of singular characters. It is not surprising that an artist who once called himself Mr. Suburbia creates cities which pulsate with life. His characters are both himself and ‘everyman’ as they hover above a world which is both challenging and enticing.
Maria Spector contemplates the liminal years of adolescence. Young people gather under ‘Candyland’ trees recalling the innocent desires of childhood. However, peril awaits them as they are clothed in popular and art historical images of sexuality, eroticism and violence.
Just as myths offer multiple levels of meaning, each artist in Mythos builds narratives which offer a casual meaning that gives way to greater depths.
Learning to Look | Myth in Art
Thursday, March 27, 2025 @ 6:30 PM
Joseph Campbell described myth as a binding set of stories that hold a culture together. Along with their oral traditions, traditional cultures made visual representations of their myths. This talk will sample a variety of traditions from the Pacific Islands to Africa and the Arctic, and from Mesoamerica, the Far East, and Europe, through their myths and visual arts.
In person @ PAC • MoCA L.I. | 20 Terry Street, Patchogue or on Zoom with Meeting ID: 880 1524 8901 | Passcode: 419010
Email info@patchoguearts.org to register