Zeus' Bastards: An Aesthetic Introspection in the Wake of COVID-19

About

Alias Trate’s most recent figurative works have been realised amongst the throes of the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown. The works, each created in a chaos of artistic catharsis, explore the interconnected drives of virtue and vice as intrinsic elements of the human condition. The lockdown has forced a period of introspection and the highly personal works explore, through mythological influence, the tension between measured reason and chaotic passion. 

Of this introspection, Alias Trate says: “There has been a steady removal of many superfluous elements in our lives. Like never before, we have had to come to terms with ourselves and have discovered in the lockdown a clarity of vision. We are complex emotional beings, conditioned by light and dark.” Zeus’ Bastards provides a visual demonstration of the tensions residing in our inner lives. 

The title of the exhibition refers to the dialectical relationship between the two illegitimate sons of Zeus: Apollo, the god of the sun, symbolising pure form and rationality, and Dionysus, the god of wine and dance, symbolising chaos and passion. The artistic theme of virtue and vice, embodied by these two gods, has long been woven into Alias Trate’s historical work, which after two decades he has recently started to share publicly. An intensely private artist, the pseudonym-veiled painter’s upcoming Bateman Street exhibition provides a rare opportunity to view his work.