About

Diana Matar - Tête-à-Tête

In May 2019, I was offered an artist’s residency at the National Archaeological Museum in Naples, which holds an extensive collection of Greek and Roman antiquities. In the Museum I looked at the work of artists who, centuries earlier, had studied the human form. I looked at faces on ancient coins, in delicate mosaics, and the faces of warriors. But mostly I returned to the sculptures. I found myself circling around them, staring into their eyes.

Face to face, these ancient human likenesses were animated and poignantly contemporary. In one of the grand halls, …