NYAB Event - menton3 “Katabasis”

menton3 “Katabasis”

Last Rites Gallery

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New works by menton3 (Menton J. Matthews III), in what will be his first solo show at the gallery, KATABASIS will feature paintings and drawings inspired by this journey to the otherworld and into one’s interiority to confront elements within the psyche. This body of work weaves together tales both personal to menton3 and universal to mankind, with their mythological beginnings rooted in Greek Mythology.

The term katabasis originates in Ancient Greece and spans both religion and time in its usage. With credence to mythology, katabasis describes a descent to the underworld, popularly taken by heroes, most notably, Orpheus in pursuit of Eurydice, but may also be a description for one’s journey through unfavorable capacities. Generally speaking, this journey may be traversed within multiple realms or planes of being, ergo, the otherworld. In more recent years, this concept has permeated modern psychology and may also serve to describe a particular form of depression, particular to the male gender.

The exploration of personal experiences and mental travels coupled with stories and heroines from Greek mythology have been a reoccurring theme in menton3’s work. In KATABASIS, a distinct focus is made on the individual with themes of metamorphosis, transcendence and death through the melancholic process of personal and artistic growth. Inspired by the katabasic passage and the Jungian anima, menton3 continues his ubiquitous practice of painting women to express his own internal struggle to confront and resolve issues of the psyche. Dominant female figures commandeer the foreground and are both radiated and usurped by the tumultuous landscapes and weather patterns behind them as perhaps a suggested window to their own inner emotions. Haunting yet otherworldly, menton3’s expressive female tropes are aware and confrontational. They offer the emotional depth and intensity we as humans are capable of undergoing, overcoming and cultivating.