Contemporary Artists using the structure of the Still Life:

Laura Letinsky (from Wikipedia) “Much of Letinsky’s work alludes to human presence, without including any actual figures. For example, in the Morning and Melancholia (c. 1997-2001), and the I Did Not Remember I Had Forgotten (c. 2002-2004) series, Letinsky seems to document the aftermath of a sumptuous gathering or dinner party.  Faded flower petals intermingle with empty glasses and crumbs of food on partially cleared tables, often covered with a white linen that bears the mark of spilled wine. As alluded in the title Morning and Melancholia these scenes are often filled with a fresh, clear light, as though one is viewing from the perspective of the morning after, what the host failed to clean up the evening before.”  There is a really great interview with her here.

Pat Hobaugh – oil paintings of still lives with sex objects

Emily Eveleth – paints almost exclusively jelly doughnuts.  Yet they ooze with fleshyness, sexuality, and a tactility that draws you in like you’d never expect.  from the catalogue for “All the more Real,” by Merrill Falkenberg:

“Eveleth has painted donuts for the past ten years.  While there is something amusing in her choice to tenderly represent a seemingly inconsequential object, her program is more serious.  She uncovers the donut’s corporeal qualities, rendering them so they become metaphors for our own bodies.  Blood-red liquid encased in fleshy dough drips and oozes out of holes that symbolize bodily orifices or wounds.  A blend between still life and portraiture, Eveleth’s paintings, the larger of which often include dramatic lighting and dark backdrops, incorporate a range of art historical references of Rubens, Rembrandt, and Caravaggio to Lucien Freud and Jenny Saville.”


Stephanie’s Links:

Odd Nerdrum – I always find this painter inspiring and deeply moving on a very human level. His writing on Kitsch is amazing, and I cannot believe so few people know about it.

Franco Mondini-Ruiz– I own one painting by Mondini-Ruiz, and I hope to buy more soon.

Colette – I love reading Colette and Isak Dinesen.

Dream Games: The Art of Robert Shwartz – This is one of my favorite exhibition catalogues. I wish the exhibition had traveled to Chicago where Shwartz was actually born. His paintings are so inspiring, I never tire of them. More of his work can be seen here.

Karen Kilimnik – this particular version of Karen’s work was my favorite iteration of it. The Serpentine, very picturesque in its April 2007 setting, was totally transformed by Kilimnik. Her vision permeated everything. Every detail was thought out and totally in place, in situ at the Serpentine. I was totally immersed in her work, and at the same time, completely able to laugh! Titles do matter, and very much so with Kilimnik. This exhibition was one of my favorite gallery experiences ever.  Her work traveled to Chicago, later and it wasn‘t the same…. In the sterile cubic setting of the museum gallery, Kilimnik’s work seemed quaint, kitschy, and underserved. Every aspect of the architecture of the serpentine understood Kilimniks work, and in Chicago, every aspect of the museum, worked against her. I feel that most people who saw her work probably felt the effect of the huge empty gallery surrounding her small installed “room” as a negative space, literally and figuratively.

Emma Tooth – I found Emma’s work “Concilium Plebis” as I was looking for exhibition spaces for Modern Groceries. Her work is very contemporary, but also very traditionally grounded in skill and craft, much like Odd Nerdrum.

William Eggleston was the first photographer that I truly loved and whose work I continue to go back to over and over again.