{"id":30074,"date":"2015-10-07T18:41:52","date_gmt":"2015-10-08T00:41:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/?p=30074"},"modified":"2023-11-15T21:43:57","modified_gmt":"2023-11-16T03:43:57","slug":"the-moving-art-of-the-still-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/the-moving-art-of-the-still-life\/","title":{"rendered":"The Moving Art of the Still Life"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id='gallery-1' class='gallery galleryid-30074 gallery-columns-4 gallery-size-thumbnail'><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/the-moving-art-of-the-still-life\/bittersweet_with_golden_roses-2\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"290\" height=\"290\" src=\"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/bittersweet_with_golden_roses.-2-290x290.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/bittersweet_with_golden_roses.-2-290x290.jpg 290w, https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/bittersweet_with_golden_roses.-2-120x120.jpg 120w, https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/bittersweet_with_golden_roses.-2-360x360.jpg 360w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 290px) 100vw, 290px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/the-moving-art-of-the-still-life\/field_flowers_11x14\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"290\" height=\"290\" src=\"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Field_Flowers_11x14-1-290x290.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Field_Flowers_11x14-1-290x290.jpg 290w, https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Field_Flowers_11x14-1-120x120.jpg 120w, https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Field_Flowers_11x14-1-360x360.jpg 360w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 290px) 100vw, 290px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/the-moving-art-of-the-still-life\/godzilla\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"290\" height=\"290\" src=\"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/godzilla-1-290x290.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/godzilla-1-290x290.jpg 290w, https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/godzilla-1-120x120.jpg 120w, https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/godzilla-1-360x360.jpg 360w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 290px) 100vw, 290px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/the-moving-art-of-the-still-life\/painttubes\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"290\" height=\"290\" src=\"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/painttubes-1-290x290.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/painttubes-1-290x290.jpg 290w, https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/painttubes-1-120x120.jpg 120w, https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/painttubes-1-360x360.jpg 360w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 290px) 100vw, 290px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt><\/dl><br style=\"clear: both\" \/><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/the-moving-art-of-the-still-life\/pink_geraniums_with_gilded_shelf\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"290\" height=\"290\" src=\"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/pink_geraniums_with_gilded_shelf-1-290x290.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/pink_geraniums_with_gilded_shelf-1-290x290.jpg 290w, https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/pink_geraniums_with_gilded_shelf-1-120x120.jpg 120w, https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/pink_geraniums_with_gilded_shelf-1-360x360.jpg 360w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 290px) 100vw, 290px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/the-moving-art-of-the-still-life\/randall\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"290\" height=\"290\" src=\"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/randall-1-290x290.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/randall-1-290x290.jpg 290w, https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/randall-1-120x120.jpg 120w, https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/randall-1-360x360.jpg 360w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 290px) 100vw, 290px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/the-moving-art-of-the-still-life\/still_life_with_peonies\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"290\" height=\"290\" src=\"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/still_life_with_peonies.-1-290x290.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/still_life_with_peonies.-1-290x290.jpg 290w, https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/still_life_with_peonies.-1-120x120.jpg 120w, https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/still_life_with_peonies.-1-360x360.jpg 360w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 290px) 100vw, 290px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/the-moving-art-of-the-still-life\/wheatley\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"290\" height=\"290\" src=\"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/wheatley-1-290x290.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/wheatley-1-290x290.jpg 290w, https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/wheatley-1-120x120.jpg 120w, https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/wheatley-1-360x360.jpg 360w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 290px) 100vw, 290px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt><\/dl><br style=\"clear: both\" \/>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<p>Three Salt Lake City galleries are currently showing still life paintings: one-person shows at Phillips Gallery and Charley Hafen, and a group show at Slusser Gallery. All of them close soon, but are definitely worth taking the time to see. We spoke with a couple of the artists about the attraction of the still life.<\/p>\n<p>In the past, the still-life genre has produced works of art with mostly inanimate subject matter. It became a professional specialization in Western painting by the late 16<sup>th<\/sup> century and has been popular ever since, although at one time was viewed as being at the lowest level in the rankings of genres.\u00a0 Still life evolved from the background details painted in large compositions, bringing those minor elements to the fore and rearranging them: metal ware, flowers or recently caught game might be used symbolically or simply as emblems of wealth and power in a time of widespread poverty. Now, however, aesthetics and the artist\u2019s psyche eclipse the illustrative aspects popular in earlier times.<\/p>\n<p>The current exhibit at Slusser Gallery highlights the infinite styles, visions and concepts of the genre and demonstrates that still life is alive and well in the 21<sup>st<\/sup> century. There are a number of well-known local artists\u2014painters like Paul Davis, Randall Lake, \u00a0Mark Slusser, Rick Graham and Justin Wheatley\u2014as well as lesser known but equally talented artists like Russian painter Anastasia Dukhanina, Courtney Derrick and Joann Musser. The subject matter ranges from the traditional, as in Dukhanina\u2019s flower arrangements or Lake\u2019s \u201cNature Morte Au Cuivre,\u201d to the more contemporary, like Justin Wheatley\u2019s \u201cSacred Heart,\u201d where the nature is more \u201cvivante\u201d than \u201cmorte,\u201d or Paul Davis\u2019 painting of stacks of piled-up wood adorned with figures and glimpses of houses.<\/p>\n<p>At Phillips, the downstairs Dibble Gallery presents the first one-man show of Simone Simonian, featuring his landscapes and still lifes. Simonian has been in Utah since age 11 and studied with the late Alvin Gittins, who, in Simonian\u2019s opinion, was \u201cthe best of the best\u201d at the University of Utah. Although Gittins\u2019 focus was portraiture, he was often heard to say\u00a0\u201c\u2026 if you can paint a portrait, you can paint anything\u201d and that\u2019s what Simonian wanted. He says he\u2019s attracted to the still life because it gives him the time to \u201cobserve things and have the opportunity to do it without having a moving target\u00a0[as in painting portraits]. It\u2019s beautiful, it gives you an opportunity to observe the effects of light, to conceptualize your work&#8230;You can say this painting is going to be about color, or the way the light moves, or how I\u2019m going to control the viewer to see what I want them to see.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He describes the evolution of one of his pieces: \u201cI often visited a place whose perimeter was surrounded by bamboo. Over time I watched the color of the bamboo change and asked if I could take a piece that appealed to me. The arc of that bamboo and the way the light falls on it in my arrangement creates a beautiful composition that draws you into and around the scene.\u201d \u00a0The shadows on the right side of a sconce in another painting he views as crucial\u2014 \u201cwithout them the piece would be nothing, just as the gilding on the sconce, if painted as one solid hue would be quite dull. You have to study it carefully to see the variances and how the light source affects it.\u201d He believes that most Westerners, having been taught to read print from left to right, also read art in the same way (although probably subconsciously). His observation prompted us to look again at some of his work, and indeed, it felt quite natural to \u201cread\u201d them that way. It also enhanced our comprehension of his way of using light in his work.<\/p>\n<p>He loves things with great sheen and highlights. \u201cWhen you paint under this beautiful north window,\u201d he says of his studio, \u201cyou get to see how light explains form in such a beautiful way. The way you can make the light leap from one thing to another and come to a crescendo and finally end. It\u2019s like a song, it\u2019s more than just a still life, it\u2019s a story.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>David Estes, who is showing this month at Charley Hafen Gallery, also appreciates the control the still life can provide. It allows the work to be more personal. \u201cYou can go out and paint a landscape, but [with still lifes] you can arrange the things you have in the studio and make your own \u2018landscapes,\u2019 and they say something about you.\u201d Estes agrees with Simonian that still lifes can tell a story, but views it from a different angle. The objects he chooses often have some personal significance, whether it\u2019s who gave them to him, or his mood, or are reminders of his late mother, or a result of his musings when not at the studio.\u00a0Sometimes he paints a still life because the objects in it are \u201cjust plain beautiful.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Where Simonian uses light to direct the viewer\u2019s eye, Estes uses what he calls \u201cpaths through the painting.\u201d Composition is the key for him\u2014the placement of objects and the space between them create his paths.\u00a0 But they also tell a story. For example, one of his paintings at Charley Hafen has a rubber figure of Godzilla in it along with other interesting objects he has found or have been given to him. \u201cI was struggling with a painting, working it over and over and over. I got so frustrated that I just wanted to throw my brushes on the floor and stomp all over them. Then my eye caught the Godzilla figure in my studio. I felt just like Godzilla, so I abandoned the other painting and set this one up with him in it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Another painting has two yellow porcelain figures in it, also a gift from a friend. Estes describes being at home, letting his mind wander and imagining what\u2019s happening back at the studio. He sees the two figures as protecting the place and all the beings and objects in it, hence the title \u201cNight Guards.\u201d\u00a0 Another piece is personal to Estes in a different way. It seems to say, \u201cThis is me \u2013 with gifts from friends, objects I love and the tools that make me an artist\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The idea of the still life may seem static\u2014an arrangement of items that left alone will never change. But as these contemporary Utah artists demonstrate, the genre provides ample room for stylistic interpretation and narrative play.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em>Slusser Gallery&#8217;s Trompe L&#8217;Oeil and Still Life Exhibition is open through October 9.<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.phillips-gallery.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Phillips Gallery&#8217;s<\/a> exhibition of works by Simone Simonian is open through October 10.<br \/>\nDavid Estes, at Charley Hafen Gallery, continues through October 10.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>This article appears in the <a href=\"http:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15bytes\/15oct\/page10.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">October 2015 edition of 15 Bytes.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Three Salt Lake City galleries are currently showing still life paintings: one-person shows at Phillips Gallery and Charley Hafen, and a group show at Slusser Gallery. All of them close soon, but are definitely worth taking the time to see. We spoke with a couple of the artists [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1520,"featured_media":30075,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_piecal_is_event":false,"_piecal_start_date":"","_piecal_end_date":"","_piecal_is_allday":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30074","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exhibition_reviews","category-visual_arts"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/bittersweet_with_golden_roses..jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-06 14:35:08","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30074","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1520"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30074"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30074\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":71577,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30074\/revisions\/71577"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30075"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30074"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30074"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30074"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}