Author Description

The title Metamorphosis goes back to the mythological poem of the same name written in hexameter by the Roman author Ovid around 8 A.D. It tells stories of transformations of gods, heroes, humans, plants, and animals. For the leitmotiv of his book of fifteen poems, Ovid chose the idea of the essential transition from one condition into another, transforming Greek and Roman myths and legends into epic images. His poetic stories reveal portentous encounters between the divine and the mortal world, and their effects, which neither man nor nature, neither extraterrestrial nor earthly beings can elude. With subtle irony and not without humor, Ovid depicts the destiny of human existence as the consequence of reciprocal entanglement of all beings and gods, while creating a poetic and at the same time dramatic fiction of an all-encompassing cosmic order. For the artists contributing to the exhibition Metamorphosis, the relationships between the divine and the worldly are of lesser importance. Rather, their works deal with the conversion of shapes, materials, bodies, ideas, and substances.