02: The Backstory

Classically, Icarus is shown as a fallen angel, muscled body in freefall. The focus is on his flight, not his face.

*The Fall of Icarus, by Hendrik Goltzius, 16th century, mannerist engraving*

*The Fall of Icarus.* Giuseppi Cesari, *16th century, mannerist engraving*

*The Fall of Icarus by Peter Paul Rubens, 1637, oil on wood*

But who was he, really?

The paintings in this series each imagine Icarus as human: at turns hopeful and penitent, ascendant and lost. There’s so much territory to mine, here: it is an ancient story but a modern one, too. So modern. (Maybe too modern.) I think of struggle and tension, of aspiration and hubris and a violent, unforgettable end.

But it begins with the hopefulness of a boy who is about to soar.

Next:

Jessica Helfand|The Icarus Diaries

03: Born to Fly

I imagine Icarus as a child, dreaming of adventure. A double portrait of a boy and a bird. A moment of stillness, calm before storm.

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Jessica Helfand|The Icarus Diaries

02: The Backstory

20: Deus ex Machina

19: Triumph’s End

18: Perspective

17: Solar Complex

20: Deus ex Machina

19: Triumph’s End

18: Perspective

17: Solar Complex