NATIONAL TREASURES: ARTEMISIA IN BIRMINGHAM

Ikon is a partner in National Treasures, a key strand of the programme celebrating the National Gallery’s Bicentenary, NG200. As part of this collaboration, Ikon presents a masterpiece by Artemisia Gentileschi (1593-1654 or later), titled Self Portrait as Saint Catherine of Alexandria (circa 1615-17). Accompanying the Gentileschi work, and created in direct response to it, is a solo exhibition by contemporary Irish artist Jesse Jones. Jones, whose artistic practice spans film, sound, performance, sculpture, and installation, presents Mirror Martyr Mirror Moon. This exhibition delves into art history, cinema, feminism, ritual, and healing, showcasing multiple interconnected archetypes of feminist resistance. In this self-portrait, Artemisia Gentileschi, the most celebrated female artist of the seventeenth century, appears as Saint Catherine of Alexandria, a Christian saint martyred in the early fourth century. Fascinated by Gentileschi’s choice to title her work Self Portrait as Saint Catherine of Alexandria, Jesse Jones explores the performative relationship between the artist and the medium of self-portraiture. Through extensive research, Jones, like many contemporary scholars, interprets Gentileschi’s work as a composite of three women: Gentileschi herself, Saint Catherine (287-305 AD), and the pagan philosopher, mathematician, and astronomer Hypatia (circa 370–415 AD).