Magnus Gjoen
2020
Archival pigment inks on 308gsm cotton rag
50 × 72.5 cm
Limited edition number 14/25
Signed and numbered by the artist
From The Allun Lewis Collection
Sometimes it isn't simply the artwork that draws you in. Sometimes it's a few words.
We discovered this piece while visiting an art festival at St Pancras, where we once again had the pleasure of meeting Magnus in person.
On this occasion, we didn't leave with just one.
We purchased all four different colourways of Cupid, each presenting the same extraordinary image in a slightly different way.
But strangely, it wasn't the colour, the scale or even Cupid himself that ultimately sold the work to me.
It was the words running through it:
Love Conquers All.
Being someone who has always been drawn to classical history, imagery and symbolism, there was something about seeing those words incorporated into a contemporary artwork that immediately struck home with me.
The phrase has survived for more than two thousand years, originating in the writings of the Roman poet Virgil, yet its message remains remarkably simple and just as relevant today.
Love conquers all.
And, in truth, I believe it does.
Life can throw an extraordinary amount at us. Relationships are tested. Circumstances change. People experience success, failure, loss and everything in between.
Yet genuine love has an extraordinary ability to endure.
That's what transformed this from an artwork I admired into something I wanted hanging on our wall.
I also love the contradiction Magnus creates.
Cupid is one of the great classical symbols of love, yet here that familiar innocence is juxtaposed with imagery that feels powerful, imposing and almost threatening.
Perhaps that's appropriate.
Because love isn't necessarily weak or delicate.
Love can be one of the most powerful forces we experience.
And perhaps that's why Amor Vincit Omnia has survived for more than two millennia.
The world around those words has changed almost beyond recognition.
Their meaning hasn't.
For me, these four works aren't simply four different versions of the same image. Together they remind me of a very simple philosophy that I hope never changes:
Whatever else life places in our way, love has the power to overcome it.
Amor Vincit Omnia.
Love Conquers All.
From The Allun Lewis Collection
Magnus Gjoen
2020
Archival pigment inks on 308gsm cotton rag
50 × 72.5 cm
Limited edition number 14/25
Signed and numbered by the artist
From The Allun Lewis Collection
Sometimes it isn't simply the artwork that draws you in. Sometimes it's a few words.
We discovered this piece while visiting an art festival at St Pancras, where we once again had the pleasure of meeting Magnus in person.
On this occasion, we didn't leave with just one.
We purchased all four different colourways of Cupid, each presenting the same extraordinary image in a slightly different way.
But strangely, it wasn't the colour, the scale or even Cupid himself that ultimately sold the work to me.
It was the words running through it:
Love Conquers All.
Being someone who has always been drawn to classical history, imagery and symbolism, there was something about seeing those words incorporated into a contemporary artwork that immediately struck home with me.
The phrase has survived for more than two thousand years, originating in the writings of the Roman poet Virgil, yet its message remains remarkably simple and just as relevant today.
Love conquers all.
And, in truth, I believe it does.
Life can throw an extraordinary amount at us. Relationships are tested. Circumstances change. People experience success, failure, loss and everything in between.
Yet genuine love has an extraordinary ability to endure.
That's what transformed this from an artwork I admired into something I wanted hanging on our wall.
I also love the contradiction Magnus creates.
Cupid is one of the great classical symbols of love, yet here that familiar innocence is juxtaposed with imagery that feels powerful, imposing and almost threatening.
Perhaps that's appropriate.
Because love isn't necessarily weak or delicate.
Love can be one of the most powerful forces we experience.
And perhaps that's why Amor Vincit Omnia has survived for more than two millennia.
The world around those words has changed almost beyond recognition.
Their meaning hasn't.
For me, these four works aren't simply four different versions of the same image. Together they remind me of a very simple philosophy that I hope never changes:
Whatever else life places in our way, love has the power to overcome it.
Amor Vincit Omnia.
Love Conquers All.
From The Allun Lewis Collection
