Ursula Mayer, Medea, 2013

In Medea, the Austrian artist Ursula Mayer (born 1970) offers an update of the Greek myth in which the queer icon and musician J.D. Samson plays the roles of both Jason and Medea, appearing alternately in a masculine suit and in a long robe with extravagant jewellery and heavy make-up. This gender fluidity reflects the protagonist’s dual roles, as well as the dichotomy embodied in the figure of the maternal yet murderous Medea. Sensual associations flow together as posed shots of the actor are interspersed with images of a severed ram’s head, a hand dripping with viscous substance, melting shadows and light. Rather than following a linear narrative, Medea presents a multi-sensory kaleidoscope of light, sound, colour and texture, inspired by Pier Paolo Pasolini’s 1969 film of the myth, starring Maria Callas. It interweaves theatrical sequences and digitized abstraction with music and fragments of voiceover. The setting in the otherworldly landscape of Cappadocchia in Turkey conjures a post-apocalyptic sense of mystery and dislocation. The theme of dissolution permeates the work on multiple levels, challenging existing conventions of language, image, sound and identity. Constrictive binary definitions of male and female, gay and straight, subject and object, past and present, blend into a single entity rife with potential for a new, expanded understanding of humanity.

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