Museum – Fraser Official Welcome

IMG: rt4a, Museum, 2021, acrylic and pencil on linen canvas, 61 × 90 × 5 cm
Museum

2021
Acrylic and pencil on linen canvas
61 × 90 × 5 cm
RT4A2102
Courtesy of the artist

In ancient Greece the Museion was a building, and also the philosophical and spiritual form of higher pursuits. The Muses were more than goddesses: each stood for a domain of knowledge or art, and together they reminded humankind that it could go beyond itself.

Marvel, on the face of it a product of popular culture, answers a primal human need: stories, heroes, figures larger than life who cross difficult moral ground and are supposed to rise above it. Its multiverse repeats the basic plots of ancient myth: sacrifice, powers and their abuse, love and betrayal, supernatural beings who change form, in an endless struggle between good and evil.

When Museum replaces the Marvel logo, the trick is more than visual: the boundaries blur. Can the mythologies of ancient, classical, modern and contemporary art be compared with universes like Marvel’s? Are contemporary museums collections of superheroes, or of their stories? How will future civilisations see our modern myths? And are the artefacts and masterpieces kept behind the protective walls of the world’s museums not superheroes in their own right? They have fought time, survived wars and outlived their origins, and they still inspire awe.

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