International Journal of Art and Art History

Dionysian Inspiration: The Contribution of Classical Reception Studies Methodology to the Interpretation of Current Curatorial Concepts
Nava Sevilla Sadeh

Abstract
The postmodern state of mind was defined by theorists such as Fredric Jameson as a-historical, and today’s society as “bereft of all historicity and denies its past which is modified into a vast collection of images and thus effaced altogether”. However, and from an approach contrasting a-historicism, the following study employs Classical Reception Studies as a comparative methodology in the analysis of contemporary art. The study bears an inter-disciplinary character, presenting four recent exhibitions as a case study, inspired by and interpreted with reference to Dionysian myths, literary documents and philosophical sources. Three of the exhibitions were exhibited in Tel Aviv between 2103-2014: Carrara Syndrome by the artist Zohar Gotesman; Tigers by the artist Jossef Krispel; and Mysteria by the artist Dor Confino. The fourth exhibition, Climax, was a dance-performance choreographed by Yasmeen Godder, displayed as part of the exhibition Set in Motion at the Petach-Tikva Museum of Art.

Full Text: PDF       DOI: 10.15640/ijaah.v3n1a2