Three Musketeers - Adiba Ndiwe

University of Brighton 
 
Oil, pastel and gold leaf on canvas 
 
Three Musketeers is a commentary on the banality of misogyny. The title refers to the symbolism in Alexandre Dumas’s 1844 French novel, The Three Musketeers, which centres on deep brotherhood and the touching concept of mutual protection. In the painting, Ndiwe takes this concept and reshapes it into something problematic. This us-and-them mentality is also visualised through composition, as the woman appears physically separated from the reproduced men. Through satire, the complexities of race, gender, sexuality, socioeconomics and spirituality, are explored.