Zeus’S Bitch 

Editor: Here we have Lucia Heffernan's oil painting, "Zeus’s Bitch," a rather humorous take on classical portraiture featuring a pug. It's really playful. What strikes you when you look at this piece? Curator: For me, it's about the manipulation of materials to create meaning. The oil paint, a historically loaded medium, is used to depict a contemporary subject: a pug in the guise of Zeus. How does that juxtaposition challenge our understanding of value, both in art and in popular culture? Editor: That's interesting! I hadn’t considered it like that. It definitely uses humor. Is she making some kind of comment on classical art and celebrity, commodification perhaps? Curator: Precisely. Think about the labor involved. Meticulous brushstrokes, a technique associated with "high art," are employed to create a portrait of something… inherently silly? Where is the value actually placed? In the labor, the materials, or the subject itself? How is the artistic labour viewed in contrast to the perceived lack of “serious” subject matter? Editor: So it’s questioning our preconceived notions by literally applying traditional methods to an unexpected subject. The title also stands out, it makes this comment even more complex… Curator: Exactly! The very title, "Zeus's Bitch," what kind of class or gender relationships do you think are at play here when re-contextualized from a dog’s point of view? Is Heffernan mocking power dynamics, or is there more to it? Editor: I think I understand. It’s using the craft and materials to deconstruct what we value and how we create hierarchies in art. It makes me see artistic production in a completely different way now. Curator: It encourages us to be critical, not just of the artwork, but of the structures that give it value in the first place.