The dance of Cronus’ children

Dancing monk
2001, bronze, 175cm
Dancing monk
2001, bronze, 170cm

Cronus, the youngest of the Titans, son of Uranus and Gaia, seriously injures his father with a sickle. His father keeps his children imprisoned for fear of losing his reign over the universe. After injuring his father Cronus replaces him as ruler of the world. But as time passes a cruel streak is revealed in him too. He marries the sweet Gaia,a fertile mother who bears him many children: Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Poseidon and Zeus. When it is predicted that one of his children will overthrow him he is blinded by fear and eats all his children. The mother manages to save only little Zeus, who as a grown man will in turn defeat his father, force him to spit out all his brothers and finally oblige him to surrender his dominion over men and the Gods.

Anna Chromy reconsiders to what extent Cronus’ tyranny still exists today. Indeed nobody can stop or change time. Our fate is an inevitable mystery, but it will unfold by the way we act. How Anna Chromy chooses to express the passing of time or the end of life is revealed in a ritual dance. Only through dance can we relieve ourselves of the daily burden of our existence. It is the body which dictates the rhythm of the dance to passing time. The body then frees itself and floats in the air as though it has no tangible substance. All that remains are legs that dance, arms that cry out, rejoice or proclaim their freedom. The pathos of this sculpture comes from this alternation between empty and full and the conflicting and profound feelings it inspires. Anna Chromy draws out these feelings by using melodramatic characters (characters that often appear in her work) and transforming them into symbolic visionaries of the human condition. And so the prayers of these dancing monks are raised up to heaven, whose bronze, habits are swirling about like many trembling, laboured souls.