Judy Takács’ Goddess Project: Warriors Comes to Ashtabula Arts Center

*Judy Takács, Isis, from the Godfather Trilogy*

Medusa, Eve, Pandora, Mary, Isis, Venus, Athena, Thalia, God, and Satan will all be appearing at the Ashtabula Arts Center this July. These characters, and more, are part of figurative painter Judy Takács’ solo show and long-term project, The Goddess Project: Warriors.

Opening from 6 to 8 pm on Friday, July 7, The Goddess Project: Warriors will remain on view through Saturday, July 29. This is the first time many of Takács’ colossal, goddess-inspired triptychs will be shown as they were meant to be…together. The gallery space of the Ashtabula Arts Center, host of the first-ever Paul and Norma Tikkanen Painting Prize last October, easily accommodates Takács’ ten-foot-tall triptychs—Arachne: Predator and Prey; The Godfather Trilogy; Love, Athena—and so much more.

*Judy Takacs, Emilie: The Tenth Muse, The One Who Sees*

Takács’ colorful and classically-inspired, figurative oil portraits for The Goddess Project re-imagine the characters and stories from the mythology of multiple religions through a contemporary feminist lens.

Viewers will learn that Medusa…#Me(dusa)too… is a rape victim. Pandora and Eve are women forbidden to learn. Venus is a generous peacemaker to our undeserving world. Athena is re-cast as a kinder, gentler goddess, standing in solidarity with her sisters. New muses for the arts are created and little-known ones finally given credit for inspiring joy and greatness.

Apollo, Sphynx, Judeo-Christian God, Michelangelo’s David, and even Satan—traditionally depicted as male deities—are re-imagined as Goddesses, too.

The Goddess Project seeks to correct harmful myths: prejudices that have seeped into our collective thinking, laws, workplaces and lives as these stories have been told and retold for eons.

Trying to “save the world, one painting at a time,” Takács’ Renaissance-inspired pro-choice paintings, My Body, My Decision, and her diptych mate, Trust Women (awarded Honorable Mention at the Paul and Norma Tikkanen Painting Prize Show last fall) are included in The Goddess Project: Warriors.

Not taking any chances and seeking to drive her feminist social messages home one way or another, show labels elaborate on the stories behind the paintings. Takács’ book, The Goddess Project, will be for sale during the run of the show for $50 plus tax.

Those who want to make a day , or night, of it can also see a theater production at the arts center and check out Takács’ solo show before the play or during intermission. Both Bye Bye Birdie and Tuck Everlasting will be on stage during the run of the exhibit. Not to be missed, and well worth the easy drive from Cleveland, Judy Takács’ The Goddess Project: Warriors is a great reason to head to the Ashtabula Arts Center this summer.