Exhibition muscles its way in
An immersive exhibition exploring muscularity and the legacy of the idealised nude will come to Leeside next weekend.
Opening at the Crawford Art Gallery on 28 April, ‘Muscle: a Question of Power’ will take visitors on an audio-guided journey through the gallery’s historic collection of Canova Casts, culminating in a short film exploring the muscularity of professional women.
Created by the award-winning UK theatre artist, writer, and academic Anna Furse, the exhibition looks to engage with society’s contemporary and often damaging obsessions with beauty and perfection, strength, and power.
It alludes historically not only to the ancient Greek cultivation of mind and body in service to the state, but to the Nazi obsession with antiquity in its effort to sculpt the flesh of the German nation according to Greek ideals.
In exploring examples of the traditional male heroic body, the exhibition raises specific awareness of women and muscle, and how the so-called 'weaker sex' gains agency through the acquisition of physical strength.
Visitors to Crawford Art Gallery will be prompted to experience these sculptural forms not only visually, but also viscerally and imaginatively.
Voiced by Furse, the audio-guide will refer the spectator to their own body sensations and presence.
The experience will speak to visitors’ curiosity as they follow gentle but precise instruction as they progress amongst the casts.
Visitors can book a free timed daily slot for the 40 minute experience and will be provided with a headset.
Alternatively, by scanning a QR code, they can use their own device and headphones during regular gallery opening hours.
The film at the end of the exhibition, made in collaboration with Kilian Waters, sees Furse engage the voices of women who work professionally with their muscularity: a 73 year old (and still active) dancer-choreographer; a para-athlete; a soldier; a pole-dancer; a bodybuilder; and a top fashion model.
Collaborators for the project include sound artist Graeme Miller, filmmaker Kilian Walters, and graphic designer Dave Darcy.
‘Muscle: a Question of Power’ opens at Crawford Art Gallery in Cork city on 28 April and runs until 20 August.