Wings

Ascending the steps of the Cour Marly, Jordan Roth’s gown unfurls to reveal itself as a pair of wings—a transformation not as the transference of form, but a revealing of a multitude of forms inherent within. The nascent wings then expand into grand diaphanous extensions, Roth evoking the movement of flight.

A series of forty-nine projected images of wings—including the Winged Victory of Samothrace, ancient Egyptian amulets, Raphael’s Saint Michael Slaying the Demon, and Schongauer’s L’Ange de l’Annonciation—takes viewers on a flight through the Louvre’s collections, investing the historical works with new life and meaning. In a profound transference of creative energies, the very wings that have carried Roth aloft become a new form that moves in a new way.