Minotaurus, Maquette

Notes

The Minotaur is a creature in Greek mythology portrayed as half man and half bull, an often fierce and daunting figure. In this artist's version of the legendary beast, she inserts herself into the body of the Minotaur, displaying the female body in a warrior stance, yet with the head tilted downwards and the facial expression submissive with a soft downwards gaze. "This ambiguous figure expresses a femininity that is fighting to emerge or symbolises the last moments of the life of the Minotaur, relieved to be delivered from a surreal and lonely experience".¹

^1. (2015) Nandipha Mntambo, Stevenson archive, Stevenson, accessed 18 August 2025.

Provenance

Stevenson, Cape Town.

Private Collection.

Exhibited

Stevenson, Cape Town, Nandipha Mntambo: Metamorphosis, 3 September to 3 October 2015, the larger bronze cast exhibited.