After winning the 2017 Portfolio Review Award, Alix Marie presented her solo exhibition Adyta as part of the Dusseldorf Photo Weekend 2018. Displayed across two rooms at Ratinger Tor, Adyta features two distinct new installations by the artist, The Pythia (2018) and Heracles (2018), both inspired by Greek mythology and created during her recent two-month residency at Void in Athens.
Marie’s The Pythia (2018) is an installation comprising a photographic self-portrait of the artist printed on Perspex and a water fountain incorporating mist and models of snakes. The title, refers to the high priestess of Delphi from Greek mythology. The priestess was also the oracle, a powerful prophetic figure who entered a trance-like state after breathing in natural gases that seeped out of the ground the machine-made mist recalls this inspirational gas. The snakes engage with the symbolism of the Pythia, a word that is etymologically derived from the same root as python. Marie’s work draws particularly on mythological readings of the snakes being linked to pubic hair and a fear of female genitalia.
Alix Marie’s Heracles (2018), stems from her interest in exploring and questioning the construction of gender. Having worked on the representation and perception of femininity previously, Marie has more recently been researching and investigating masculinity, looking at both biological and socially defined factors of its construct. Muscularity is considered a particular attribute of virility, which led Marie to research further into bodybuilding. Heracles features cushion-like objects individually displayed on rotary barbecues, continuously turning on themselves and evoking the Greek tradition of rotisserie grilling.
