The Raft of the Medusa

“My forthcoming exhibition uses Théodore Géricault’s   iconic painting, “The Raft of the Medusa,” as the subject or focus for a small series of allegorical paintings. Completed in 1819, Gericault’s painting depicts the survivors of The Medusa, a French naval frigate that was wrecked off the coast of West Africa en route to Senegal in 1816. Although it portrays the scene of the survivors adrift on a raft in the open ocean, it also carried a powerful political subtext about French society, hopelessly adrift in a turbulent political landscape after a decade of European wars.

My work aims to use this iconic painting to set the scene for today’s stages of contemporary conflict, be it social science, international politics or whatever the viewer may recognise in it. My agenda is to raise questions, provoke reactions and spark debate. There is no clear message that I wish to deliver, nor ideology that I wish to support. In a sense I wish to assume the role of observer, or the keeper of records.”