Madness In The Soul

SIX ARTISTS EXPLORE THEIR MUSES IN A NEW GROUP SHOW AT REHS CONTEMPORARY IN NEW YORK CITY.

- Michael Clawson

A strong case can be made that the most important aspect of an artist’s work is not the canvas or the paint, nor is it even the paintbrush itself, but the engine that powers the artist, the drive that inspires them to not only get the brush and put it to canvas, but to let it push them into the oblivion as they embark on their artistic vision. This engine is the artist’s muse, the inspiration that guides them, shapes their ideas and hurtles them forward.

The idea of the muse is not a new one, with roots that stretch back to ancient Greece, where the Muses were nine goddesses who embodied the inspiration for the arts, including poetry, history, comedy and astronomy. When Plato wrote about the Muses in his dialogue Phaedrus more than 2,300 years ago, he first suggested how a muse can have a persistent shriek, enough to drive someone to the brink. “[It] enters into a delicate and virgin soul, and there inspiring frenzy, awakens lyrical…But he, who, not being inspired and having no touch of madness in his soul, comes to the door and thinks he will get into the temple by the help of art—he, I say, and his poetry are not admitted; the sane man is nowhere at all when he enters into rivalry with the madman.” The words of Plato, and his prophetic warning, will greet visitors at a new group exhibition opening October 26 at Rehs Contemporary Galleries in New York City. The show, ARC Select: The Modern Muse, will feature six artists—Amanda Greive, Randalf Dilla, Linda Adair, David Bowers, Hiroshi Furuyoshi and Michael Van Zeyl— culled from a long list of finalists for the Art Renewal Center’s annual salon show. The Rehs show, also held annually, will focus on these six artists as each of them explores the idea of the modern muse.