Psyche
and Eros
Commentary on
the works of Larissa Strunova-Lübke
Dr.
Stefan Scholz
The works of
Larissa Strunova-Lübke need space. Not only because
they are large canvasses, but also because of their strong
colours and the intrinsic tension between contemplation
and the ecstatic movement of her figures. They demand time
and an alert eye. Only after the second or third look one
can discover the colours and lines representing faces and
fragmentary figures hidden from the observer at the first
cursory glance. Woman, Man - Man, Woman - Man, Woman - Woman,
Man; Larissa Strunova-Lübke's important theme is the
human being, not only in its gender-specific individuality
but also in relation to an opposite number, whichever gender
this may be. The artist thinks and feels in colours. The
arbitrary placement of these colours on the canvas gradually
becomes an artistic expression derived from intuition which
eventually tracks down what Man is. Larissa Strunova-Lübke
meets the task of sounding out the depth of human identity
using artistic means, knowing that one will never come to
an end. One and the same motif always finds a new and different
graphical realisation. A mere repetition of spiritual, religious
or philosophical traditions, not to forget art history is
not enough when it comes to the existential confrontation
of Man with himself. It demands an individual expression.
Ancient Greek philosophy understands this confrontation
as the concept of body and soul. Greek mythology describes
the relationship of the sexes in e.g. the myths about Aphrodite,
the goddess of love, who weds Ares, the god of war. Their
mutual son ist Eros. As well as arousing the desire for
self-abandon he is able to drag down or to raise Man into
a whirl of desire and lust. Aphrodite owes her birth to
the fall and castration of Uranos by his son Kronos. The
sperm of Uranos' cut-off organ spills into the uterus of
the sea and forms the body of the new goddess. From an act
of violent revolt comes love into being. In Aphrodite's
entourage there are gods and demigods. Their opposing influences
make love a fulfilling as well as an estranging element
for gods and men. Eros awakens the want to surrender. Himeros
lights the fire of desire, the Charites embody the virtues
and the grace of love. Peitho, the goddess of persuasion,
on the other hand, leads people into liaisons often having
a tragic ending. The horae control everything. As they have
control over time they try to bring the opposing forces
of love into a sensible heavenly order. Her choice of husbands
is baffling. In the first marriage Aphrodite offered herself
to Hephaistos. In the middle of the earth he worked with
fire to melt bronze. In the heavenly world Hephaistos embodied
the rough doer type without much of a sense of passion.
This insensitivity may have eventually driven Aphrodite
into the arms of Ares. Ares liked war for war's sake and
so was looked at with mistrust and hatred by the gods on
Mount Olympus. He was tolerated by the higher gods rather
out of obligation than out of love. Perhaps they hoped his
destructive temperament might be softened by Aphrodite's
pleasant nature. Fighting, terror and fear, the chaotic
driving forces of battle and the deamons of death served
him in his art of war. The myths are always about men and
women and their developing personal dramas, up to the point
where a yearning fulfills itself in one of the lovers. This
fulfillment tragically transforms itself into boredom, jealousy
and violence, until this excessiveness leads to a feeling
of emptiness and expresses itself in new desires, hoping
that the circle of searching closes itself in one person
and ends there.
Eros leaps out of Larissa Strunova-Lübke's paintings
as the graceful seducer, as a lascivious gesture, a rape-like
appropriation, an ecstatic resolution, a reserved self-abandon,
wrestling with himself and an opposite number.
Centrifugal and centripedal forces in love's wake seem rather
to tear Man apart than to bring him to himself. How can
one speak of human identity with a view to those diametral
driving forces of Eros. In ancient Greek philosophy psyche
describes the nature of mankind. The philosophers were kept
busy with finding out how body relates with Eros and psyche
relates with Nous, which embodies reason. Plato only saw
a loose connection between the two. The best thing would
be if Man lost his corpus as soon as possible, because desire
gives birth to passions, which lead to disappointment and
suffering, and war. Reason, on the other hand, looks to
avoid suffering and to put itself into the world of ethereal
ideas and to find fulfilment there.
Reason, based on philosophical principles, is like an experienced
charioteer, leading the noble impetus of Man and his dangerous
animalistic passions, like two horses pulling the chariot,
onto the cultured trail of spiritualisation.
The body and its forces destroy the human being. The body
is a prison for that which defines the nature of Man; the
psyche.
Aristotle saw Man as a unity of body and soul. The psyche
is the shaping force which leads the human body to its goal.
The soul has no need to reside indefinitely in the body
as it expects that it will move on as soon as possible.
The psyche has an affect on the whole body. It forms the
human body and is present in every aspect. Although body
and soul can be recognised as separate entities, they are
inseparable.
The influence of the philosophical anthropologies of Plato
and Aristotle with their different ways of looking at humankind
can be found in the western ethic.
Larissa Strunova-Lübke aligns herself more with the
thinking of Aristotle in her art. Without taboos and prejudice
she delves into the secrect of mankind, of body and soul,
of Eros and Nous. She makes her very paintings into a secret,
withholding herself from the violent regard of a consumer
or a voyeur, who thinks everything can be taken in at one
glance. Contemplation is present before, during and after
each act of love. Man needs time to become Man, freedom
to express his passions, a conscience for his own secrets
and those of his partner, and the ability to reflect on
the universe of his feeling and thinking - and artists like
Larissa Strunova-Lübke, who have the gift to find an
expression for all this, which itself becomes an act of
love.
Dr. Stefan Scholz
Translation from
German to English by
Robert Johnston Brown M.Sc. and
Beate Ruther-Gottwald M.A.
|