Et in Arcadia Ego

In support of the New Museum Los Gatos mission to spotlight significant global perspectives in art and history, NUMU together with guest curator, artist and writer, David Molesky, are pleased to present Et in Arcadia Ego, an exhibition focused on the history and contemporary re-interpretation of the mythological theme of Arcadia.

Inspired by the 17th century Nicolas Poussin painting of the same name, Et in Arcadia Ego is translated to mean: “Even in Arcadia, there am I,” alluding to the inevitable impermanence of the ideal. The exhibition will explore the timeless myth of Arcadia as it has been represented by artists and writers, employing concepts such as: the sublime, the paradox of living, beauty and longing, paradise lost, and the golden hour. Et in Arcadia Ego explores these themes as they are reinterpreted and reinvented through the eyes of contemporary artists.

Artists featured in the exhibition work consistently with these Arcadian themes in figurative and landscape painting, exploring what it means to be human in the temporal world while standing on the precipice to the next. Contemporary artists include: David Ligare, Odd Nerdrum, Astrid Preston, Julie Heffernan, Holly Lane, Brad Kunkle, Agostino Arrivabene, Kim Keever, Jason Yarmosky, Maria Kreyn, Robin F. Williams, Seamus Conley, Aron Wiesenfeld, Gillian Pederson Krag, Sandow Birk, and Stephanie Peek.