Numen (Shifting Votive 1,2, 3) Series

Numen‭ (‬Shifting Votive 1,2, 3‭) ‬series‭, ‬2016
Aluminium and marble

Aluminium head: 77 x 57 x 63 cm
Marble plinth: 110 x 50 x 50cm

In the “Numen” series, Thomas J. Price continues his exploration of a new mythology in which the ancient Greek, Roman and Egyptian traditions of monumental sculpture are deployed in the depiction of the twenty-first century social subject. In an exciting departure from his previous use of cast Bronze, Price has created three large cast aluminium heads raised to eye-level on marble columns. They immediately announce themselves as archetypal objects of worship in a modern age, fashioned from the same fabric as MacBooks, coke cans, cars and planes – a whole array of thoroughly untraditional and unmuseum-like objects. Yet, in their emotional depth and arresting monumentality these anonymous portraits assert the value of the depicted subject, powerfully subverting traditional social and aesthetic hierarchies.