Shannon Bool’s practice investigates ornament as a means of reconfiguring history and reorienting perspective. Against the sweeping expanse of tapestry, Bool’s paintings depict the characters of myth and legend in blocks of jewel-toned colour and decorative patterns. The artist takes the Biblical story of Salome as her subject in Salome Prepares for her Dance, 2007, a life-size oil painting rendered on shimmering silk. As recounted in the Gospels of Matthew and Mark, King Herod promises Salome anything she desires after seeing her dance. Prompted by her mother, she demands the head of John the Baptist on a platter, and bound by his oath, Herod was forced to execute the preacher. By focusing on Salome before her dances, Bool highlights an intimate exchange so often consigned to the margins in conventional retellings.
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