Five Facts about Still Life Art
- Topics:
- Contemporary Artists
By Deja Chappell, Tenenbaum Museum Education Fellow
Read on for more information about still life art in connection with Elegies: Still Lifes in Contemporary Art curated by Monique Long. The works in Elegies show the dynamic potential of objects to represent the social, political and cultural pulse of our time.
1. Still lifes depict objects as their main subject matter. The objects can be natural or manmade and are conventionally “anything that does not move or is dead” [1].
For example, vases of plants and flowers are classic, recurring subjects in still life art, as with Sadie Barnette’s Birthday Flowers, Rashaad Newsome’s The Art of Immortality 2, Brittany Leanne Williams’ Untitled (Birds of Paradise), and Toyin Ojih Odutola’s Codex.
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View image 1 in lightbox:
Sadie Barnette (b. 1984); Birthday Flowers, 2020; archival pigment print and Swarovski crystals; courtesy of the artist and Jessica Silverman, San Francisco.
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Rashaad Newsome (b. 1979); The Art of Immortality 2; 2019; photo collage in custom mahogany and resin artist frame with leather and automotive paint; courtesy of the artist and Jessica Silverman, San Francisco
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Brittney Leeanne Williams, Untitled (Birds of Paradise), 2018; acrylic on canvas; courtesy of the artist and Alexander Berggruen, NY.
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Toyin Ojih Odutola (b. 1985); Codex, 2018; pastel and pencil on paper; courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery
Generally, still lifes exclude living human figures and landscapes. However both appear in Elegies. Pay close attention to the faces in the foliage in Njideka Akunyili Crosby’s Grandmother’s Parlour. In Funeral Wallpaper you can see the faintest silhouette of artist Deana Lawson taking the photograph. David Antonio Cruz blurs the lines of landscape and still life in thefogsuspendedovertheland through the repetition of branches amounting to a forested landscape.
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View image 1 in lightbox:
Njideka Akunyili Crosby, Grandmother's Parlour, 2016; acrylic, photographic transfers, and colored pencil on paper; courtesy of the artist.
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Deana Lawson (b. 1979), Funeral Wallpaper, 2013; pigment print; courtesy of Sikkema Jenkins & Co., New York; David Kordansky Gallery, Los Angeles
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View image 3 in lightbox:
David Antonio Cruz (b. 1974), thefog,suspendedovertheland, 2022; acrylic, ink, and wax pencil on watercolor paper Courtesy the artist and Monique Meloche Gallery
2. The term “still life” comes from the Dutch phrase stilleven [2].
Still life paintings rose to prominence in the Netherlands during the 17th century in a period defined by Dutch colonialism and their prominent participation in the transatlantic slave trade [3, 4, 5]. Significantly, several Dutch still life painters from this era included enslaved African figures in their works. Art historians have made the argument that the inclusion of enslaved figures contributed to and revealed a clear objectification of Black bodies, in keeping with ideology of dehumanization that marked slavery and the slave trade [9].
In Avocado and Coconut, Elizabeth Colomba invokes the legacy of colonialism writ upon the “fruits” of empire. Colomba focuses on fruits harvested on plantations in the Caribbean for centuries, insisting we consider the labor that made their global circulation possible.
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Elizabeth Columba (b. 1976);Avocado, 2021–2022; oil and gold leaf on canvas; courtesy of the artist
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Elizabeth Colomba; Coconut, 2016; oil and gold leaf on canvas; courtesy the collection of Jamie and Emmett Watson
3. Still lifes can be created in virtually any medium: painting, photography, sculpture, printmaking, or a combination of media.
Look at the arrangement of historical and contemporary objects in Awol Erizku’s photograph Origin of Afro-Esoterism. Erizku uses a classical still life format to provoke questions of identity and race. He includes a hand and a ColorChecker chart as a reminder of the role of the artist in the creation of the work and its meaning.
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Awol Erizku (b. 1988), Origin of Afro-Esotericism, 2018; archival pigment print; courtesy of the artist and Night Gallery, Los Angeles
In Western art, still lifes have traditionally been realist paintings. Despite the skill it takes to create them, they were considered the lowest genre of art in the Academic hierarchy, with historic scenes, portraits, everyday scenes, and landscapes being of higher value [1].
4. Memento mori and vanitas are two traditional categories of still lifes in Western art.
Memento mori is a Latin phrase meaning “remember you must die.” These typically contemplate mortality and death [6]. Vanitas still lifes emphasize wealth and earthly pleasures—and warn of their impermanence [7].
William Villalongo’s Feast with Nkisi viscerally references death by featuring the only weapon in the show.
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William Villalongo (b. 1975); Feast with Nkisi, 2021, acrylic and velvet flock on wood panel; courtesy the artist and Susan Inglett Gallery, NYC
Devan Shimoyama’s For Tamir VII and For Tamir VIII reference more than just the site of the murder of 12-year-old Tamir Rice by Cleveland police in 2014. The swings, common to virtually every playground, are a site of commemoration of Tamir’s life and other young Black lives.
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Devan Shimoyama, For Tamir VII, 2019; silk flowers, rhinestones, jewelry, canvas, found objects and chains on industrial vinyl swing seat; courtesy of the artist.
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Devan Shimoyama, For Tamir VIII, 2019; silk flowers, rhinestones, jewelry, canvas, found objects and chains on industrial vinyl swing seat; courtesy of the artist.
Azikwe Mohammed’s fluorescent Ms. Keisha’s for Dinner, These N***** Got Money #3 could be considered a vanitas. Listen to the artist speak about the symbolism of oranges as an announcement of wealth.
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Azikiwe Mohammed Ms. Keisha’s For Dinner, These N***** Got Money #3, 2019; neon on painted board; courtesy of the artist
Lakela Brown’s Gold Teeth Still Life #2 evokes both memento mori and vanitas. The flash of gold elevates hip hop culture, while the crown itself is an admission of decay (cavities). The stacked gums and teeth remind us of the fragile components of the human body.
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Lakela Brown, Gold Teeth Still Life #2, 2020; resin, acrylic, and enamel; courtesy the artist, 56 Henry, New York; and Reyes
5. Still lifes have a special place in art history of the African Diaspora. Check out more still lifes from African American painters, printmakers, and photographers past and present:
Charles Ethan Porter – Untitled (Cracked Watermelon)
William H. Johnson – Still Life–Flowers
Lois Mailou Jones – Still Life With Portrait
Jacob Lawrence – Still Life With Masks
Jacob Lawrence – Morning Still Life
References and further reading:
[1] https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/s/still-life
[2] https://www.getty.edu/art/exhibitions/focus_still_life/
[3] https://www.getty.edu/news/what-is-a-still-life/
[5] https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/stories/10-things/story/10-objects-with-a-connection-to-slavery
[6] https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/m/memento-mori
[7] https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/v/vanitas
[8] https://www.moma.org/collection/terms/still-life
[9] https://museum.cornell.edu/collections/european/european-art-1600-1900/vanitas
[10] https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/05/08/arts/design/dutch-still-life.html