Ariadne 2018

Adam Caldwell created this oil painting, titled ‘Ariadne’, sometime in the 20th century. Caldwell uses the mythological figure of Ariadne, who provided Theseus with the thread that allowed him to escape the Labyrinth, as a point of entry into the politics of imagery. By painting over and obscuring his figures, and presenting the scene as a painting within a painting, Caldwell is deliberately questioning art as an institution. Is Caldwell presenting an argument against the traditional art establishment, including museums such as this one? Or does the work self-consciously position itself within that tradition? Is he deliberately critiquing the establishment by obscuring a famous mythological subject? An art historian might look to Caldwell's other works and statements to assess the artist’s intentions. They might also research the critical response to Caldwell's work, and the institutional settings in which it has been exhibited, to understand the social conditions that have shaped its reception.