Paul Vanstone

Description

Man Mountain draws upon the Classical sculptural traditions of ancient Greece. The piece alludes to the ancient Greek Olympic champions whose torsos were immortalised following their sporting victory and were displayed in the Olympic stadium thereafter.

The Classical period was the first time in human history that the human body was studied and celebrated for its aesthetic value. With this in mind, Man Mountain harks back to the idealised male torso as portrayed by Classical sculptors.

However, this is a twenty-first century appropriation of potent masculinity that is distinctly postmodern as a result of its self-referential production. Vanstone uses Himalayan Grey Indian marble's strength and striations to emphasise the power and beauty of his subject. However, the reverse of the piece is left roughly hewn, with deep horizontal score marks, which highlight the sculptors stone carving techniques and add a texturally interesting facet to this deceptively contemporary work.