Dates 19th March – 17th April 2022
Curator: Melanie Erixon
Venue: Il-Kamra ta' Fuq
Art Interrupted
Artist Statement
‘Judith and Weinstein’, Oil and Aquarelle on Wood Panel, 2011/2022
This artwork was initiated in 2011 as part of the preparatory process for Tanti’s first solo exhibition, Omen. In this exhibition, Tanti reimagined Biblical stories in contemporary settings, portraying figures from the Old and New Testaments in modern clothing and environments. This approach aimed to bring these ancient narratives closer to our own lived experience, potentially allowing for a deeper engagement with their meaning.
In this particular work, Judith is reinterpreted as a young contemporary woman, mocking the beheaded Assyrian general Holofernes after luring him into her trap. Rather than depicting Judith with a stern or heroic expression, the artist chose to portray her ridiculing Holofernes with a childish gesture, sticking out her tongue, thus revealing a human quality often overlooked in traditional representations. For reasons unknown, the painting remained unfinished in the artist’s studio for years, with Holofernes’ head left incomplete and the composition halted at the grisaille stage.
In 2022, the dormant work found new relevance as the case against Harvey Weinstein dominated global media and helped ignite the #MeToo movement. The abandoned Judith found her contemporary Holofernes, and the empty space was completed with the decapitated head of Harvey Weinstein, bridging ancient myth with modern justice in a bold, unsettling statement.