There is a patriarchal bent in many creation myths. In Christian teaching, for example, God created Adam from dust and Eve from Adam’s rib; woman is both a product of man and the cause of his downfall, the purveyor of the forbidden fruit. In Judaic and Mesopotamian tradition, Adam was created alongside Lilith, but after refusing to submit to sex, she is banished from Eden and condemned to live as a demon.
The new museum is currently displaying a 65-foot-long panoramic painting – the largest ever on display at the institution – which offers a different account of the origins of life. The Original Riot (2023), directed by Peruvian artist Wynnie Mynerva, reimagines the myth as a syncretic story of rebellion in which Eve and Lilith team up in an alliance against Adam.
The climactic scene of the canvas shows Eve giving her lowest rib—commonly referred to as “Adam’s rib”—to Lilith as a symbol of their pact. The work, Mynerva told Artnet News, offers a “necessary first rebellion – a riot that challenges the control of bodies by higher powers that are always male.”
But for the 31-year-old artist, the token exchanged between the women is more than just a metaphor. Adam de Mynerva’s own rib, recently removed in surgery, is also on display in the museum.
“My body, as a descendant of Eve, breaks the myth and removes Adam’s body from my own body,” they said of the artwork, Remainder of the first cut (2023).
An installation view of Wynnie Mynerva The Original Riot (2023) at the New Museum in New York. Courtesy of the New Museum. Photo: Dario Lasagni.
The exhibition, also called “The Original Riotis Mynerva’s first solo museum release in the United States. It’s a useful introduction to their practice – a world of gender fluidity and sexual expression, visceral paintings and radical body modifications. The artist showed paintings the size and shape of half-moons, and featured people having sex in latex bags. Once, they sutured their vaginas to “open up different possibilities to exist.”
Often, Mynerva’s work evokes religious themes – a relic of their youth growing up in the outskirts of Lima, where Catholicism is prevalent. They have since moved away from religion, but iconography still looms large.
“The first time I prayed, I had terrifying nightmares with God,” Mynerva recalls. “In a way, his presence overwhelmed me and made me feel a lot of guilt. Since then, I have always lived with these images. For me, they became fantastic characters: gods, goddesses, anti-heroes.
Their paintings, like The original riot tend to be extraordinarily large. The ladder feels like a sharp gesture in itself – a provocative reclamation of space. By design, many are simply too big to buy.
“My paintings seek a scenic, theatrical and panoramic quality,” they said. “I intend to offer more than consumer goods. The paintings are an experience for a community and not just for private enjoyment. They are not easily acquired by individuals, but are intended for public display.
“Wynnie Mynerva: The Original Riotis on view at the New Museum in New York until September 17.
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