Once There Was A House - Echoes from The Villa of Mysteries - Pompeii Opens September 16

An installation echoing the Villa of the Mysteries by Katha Seidman and Laurie Kaplowitz will be presented at South Shore Art Center opening on September 16, 2016. "Once There Was A House….Echoes from The Villa of Mysteries" a site-specific installation by Boston artists Katha Seidman and Laurie Kaplowitz. An opening reception will be held on Friday, September 16 from 6-8pm. The exhibition will continue through November 6, 2016.

According to curator Katha Seidman, “The installation will embody the spirit of a house known as the Villa of Mysteries located on the outskirts of Pompeii. Using the dining room of the house as a template, the artists will develop a coherent space filled with murals and sculpture depicting a domestic space at the moment that a cataclysm has occurred. All activity has suddenly stopped: inhabitants both real and spectral, along with household objects, have been suspended in time; millennia have passed; and now from a distant portal, we look upon the tableau, recognizing some of what we see and wondering much more.”

Discovered in 1909, the Villa of Mysteries is situated just outside of Pompeii. Having sustained minor damage, the majority of the frescoes in this elaborately decorated country villa and working farmhouse remain intact. The mysteries that gave the Villa its name were painted about one hundred years before Vesuvius’ eruption. This frieze is generally thought to portray the secret initiation rites of the Cult of Dionysus.

The murals in this installation will cover the Art Center’s Bancroft Gallery walls and the sculptural figures will be constructed of wire, steel, plastic and found objects moving through the space suggesting participants in a ritual either just completed or about to begin. Artist Dorothy Pilla will work with visiting school children during the exhibition.