Travis Durden, "Myths and Idols"
Travis Durden, Darth Resurrection, archival ink on canson arches museum © Travis Durden
"Wow, what great timing…just couldn’t pass up a chance to show these pieces!
After crossing paths with a.k.a. Parisian artist Travis Durden on the (you guessed it) internet, I was thrilled to have him agree to show some of his work in the gallery. His awesome mash up of mythical and deified idols is exquisite. Classical Greek marbles sporting the heads of iconic Star Wars characters, brilliant! Really fun to look at. The images are both beautiful and impossible…and, available."
Travis Durden, Storm Reader, archival ink on canson arches museum © Travis Durden
Travis Durden is a pseudonym, as the Parisian artist behind the project would prefer his art be the center of attention, not himself. Fascinated by the construction of myths & idols, he investigates how we, as humans, determine what will be raised to popular culture or elevated to divine cult, and how history has influenced us in making this choice.
Travis Durden, Love Droid, archival ink on canson arches museum © Travis Durden
This series is the first of a new process in which he questions the similarities between objects of cult from different periods in time by confronting them head on. The idea of mixing contemporary culture with Renaissance depictions of classical subjects came to him as he was sitting-in in the famed Ecole du Louvre’s open-to-the-public lectures. He realized how, in our society, as entire collections are being scanned or digitized, the emotional impact of these pieces may be diminished because they are now just part of an endless gallery, and paradoxically eventually fall into oblivion.
Travis Durden, General Niobides, archival ink on canson arches museum © Travis Durden
Bringing together ancient classical art and modern culture is a way for the latter to contribute to the preservation of the former, it is an invitation to go back and rediscover our ancestors’ work before we, the general public, forget about them.
Travis Durden, Marble Saber, archival ink on canson arches museum © Travis Durden
Travis Durden, The Nymph Bounty Hunter, archival ink on canson arches museum © Travis Durden
Travis Durden, Gladiator Boba, archival ink on canson arches museum © Travis Durden
Travis Durden, Yodea Angel, archival ink on canson arches museum © Travis Durden
Travis Durden, Amiral De Ren, archival ink on canson arches museum © Travis Durden