Narcissus Reflected: The Myth of Narcissus in Surrealist and Contemporary Art
by David Lomas
Reaktion Books. 176 pages, $27.
THERE ARE many versions of the myth of Narcissus in classical literature, but perhaps the best known comes from the Roman poet Ovid’s Metamorphoses. Narcissus is a youth whose beauty is so powerful that women and men fall under its spell, yet none dare approach him. Not only does Narcissus enjoy the attention, he plays with the affections of those who desire him. The nymph Echo is among these, and his rejection causes her to pine away. One of Narcissus’ rejected male admirers prays for Narcissus to suffer the same fate. The goddess Nemesis answers this prayer, leading Narcissus to a still, clear pool, where he becomes entranced with his reflection, a vision that vanishes whenever he reaches for it. Eventually, he dies, his heart broken by his unattainable lover, leaving behind not a corpse, but a flower.
With its elements of youthful beauty, emotional turmoil, and same-sex desire, it’s no surprise that the Narcissus myth has inspired a great many queer writers and artists. This legacy is the subject of Narcissus Reflected, a recent exhibition at Edinburgh’s Fruitmarket Gallery. The show was arranged by scholar David Lomas, who has also written a book of the same title (not an exhibition catalog) that presents detailed studies of artists featured in the show. Lomas dives deeply into interpretations of the Narcissus myth, examining the story’s inherent identity politics and its importance in helping early sexologists and psychologists articulate their theories about the origins and nature of homosexuality. For Lomas, Narcissus’ self-absorbed state is an appropriate symbol for the condition of artists in general. He examines numerous Narcissus-themed paintings, sculptures, photographs, films, and video installations in the course of the book, describing in detail the milieu within which each work was created. It’s difficult to read this book without being impressed by the diversity of ways in which creative artists have interpreted the Narcissus theme. Lomas begins with Salvador Dalí’s 1937 painting, Metamorphosis of Narcissus, a subject that also inspired his poem of the same title (which Lomas includes in the book’s Appendix). In addition to a two-page spread that conveys something of the scope of the original, Lomas also includes reproductions of the many sketches and studies that Dalí used in the development of his erotically charged, dreamlike iconography. He also examines the likely homoerotic nature of Dalí’s close friendship with the great gay Spanish poet Lorca; and he considers the extent to which Dalí’s imagery borrowed from the idioms of the Catalan language. One of the book’s more intriguing chapters focuses on a single work, Narkissos, by the late San Francisco artist known as Jess (né Jess Collins, 1923–2004). It’s a large pencil, ink, and paste-up assemblage that he painstakingly crafted from 1976 until 1991. Of course, the story of how Jess created this decades-in-the-making life’s work is dramatic enough, but Lomas also relates how the artist’s philosophical interests, and his connections to San Francisco’s literary scene, informed this singular work. Jess’s partner was the famed poet Robert Duncan, and Thom Gunn was a good friend. (Lomas includes an image of a typescript of a Narcissus-themed poem that Gunn presented to Jess.) Lomas also pays attention to Narcissus-themed photography, film, and video. In addition to some George Platt Lynes and Charles Henri Ford photographs of youthful male nudes gazing into mirrors, as well as some Cecil Beaton, Lomas delves into the work of lesser-known photographers, mostly female Surrealists such as gender-bender Claude Cahun and Florence Henri. Pierre Molinier’s cross-dressing meditations upon the Narcissus theme are particularly well represented; these include a photograph of his empty apartment, taken by his daughter the day after his 1976 suicide. Botanical imagery is of course an important part of the Narcissus myth, and Lomas explores this aspect in a chapter that considers everything from the 19th-century fascination with botanically themed erotic literature to the art of Max Ernst and the floral-inspired installations of the contemporary artist Yayoi Kusama. He concludes his study with the mostly water-themed imagery in the art of Pipilotti Rist and Bill Viola (video), Mat Collishaw (photography), and Leonor Fini (painting), as well as selected contemporary sculptors. All told, Lomas offers an expansive examination of the Narcissus myth. His illuminating discussions of each artist weave together the biographical and the theoretical. And the colorful, vivid, and erotic reproductions that illustrate the book help convey the scope and power of the original exhibition.
Jim Nawrocki, a frequent contributor to these pages, is a freelance writer based in San Francisco.
