Cassina Projects brings together a selection of figurative works by contemporary artists
Bambou Gili, Distance of the moon, 2020. Oil on canvas, 142 x 183 cm.
MILAN
.- The myth of Iώ - first priestess of Hera, the wife of Zeus - is quintessentially a story of torment, metamorphosis and, above all, lust. Desire, regarded as a gravitational force transcending aesthetics and form, governs immortal gods and humans alike.
Beautiful nymph and mortal lover, Iώ was seduced by Zeus, king of the gods, and transformed into a heifer to be concealed from his jealous wife, Hera. Hera, still somewhat suspicious, demanded the heifer as a gift forcing Zeus to reluctantly hand Io over to her care. Argos, who had hundred eyes, was sent to guard Iώ and prevent Zeus from visiting her. Yet Zeus, succumbing to the most uncontrollable impulse of desire, in turn, sent Hermes to distract and eventually slay Argos. When Iώ was freed, still in the form of a heifer, Hera directed a gadfly to sting her