This Is Not A Still Life
neon, electricals, 60cm x 100cm,
image credit: Keith Maxwell
Sculptures at Scenic World 2019
If ‘Still Life’, as Giorgio Morandi painted it, is a reflection of who we are, then what about a still life formed from neon?
This is not a Still Life is a direct comment on life as we know it, ebbing and flowing, consistently in motion, challenging our very existence as we live – fast or slow, hard or soft. This is not a Still Life alludes to the ideas of the 16th Century Dutch and Flemish masters where the craft of traditional still life painting is a way in which one is present and gazes slowly and deliberately at each and every fine detail.
Placing the work within the depths of the Blue Mountains wilderness, a space where many seek solace, accentuates the meditative qualities of the work and creates a space of contemplation and serenity. This is not a Still Life departs significantly from the artists’ use of the everyday into an unfamiliar medium, diverging from found objects and unexpectedly engaging with the shiny, newly manufactured neon – a stark reminder of what is transpiring outside the realms of the pristine environment in which it now sits. The work takes the still life genre off the table and places it right at the centre of life, causing uneasiness while paying homage to the phenomenon of neon as artist Dan Flavin has done so before.
Still: National Still Life Award 2019
The shortlist has been revealed for Coffs Harbour Regional Gallery’s STILL: NATIONAL STILL LIFE AWARD 2019 with 56 artists selected from a record number of entries from all over Australia. Selected artworks include sculpture, printmaking, installation, painting, ceramics, photography and video – highlighting the diversity and vitality of still life in Australian contemporary art practice. The winner will receive $30,000 prize money and the winning artwork joins the Gallery’s collection. The judge for the 2019 award is the highly-respected Director of the Shepparton Art Museum (SAM) Rebecca Coates.
The 2019 Finalists are: Phil Alldis, Louise Allerton, Kelly Austin, Sue Bell, Stephen Bird, John Bokor, Sara Bowen, Janine Brody, Kelcie Bryant-Duguid, Fran Callen, Brett Canet-Gibson, Carol Christie, Christine Courcier-Jones, Madeleine Cruise, Fiona Currey-Billyard, Michael Cusack, Jo Darvall, Sally Davis, Rachel Doller, Kate Dorrough, Christine Druitt-Preston, Scott Duncan, Helen Earl, Michele Elliot, Ben Fayle, Sharman Feinberg, Robert Fenton, Honor Freeman, Corrie Furner, Salvatore Gerardi, Jane Gerrish, Warwick Gilbert, Myfanwy Gullifer, Andrew Hickinbotham, Sally Hook, Julie Hutchings, Susan Jacobsen, Jane James, Susan Knight and Trevor Mein, Suzanne Knight, Catherine Lane and Linelle Stepto, Marie Mansfield, Donna Marcus, Nicola Moss, NOT, Victoria Reichelt, Ignacio Rojas, Daniel Sherington, Asahi So, Stephanie Theobald, Gerry Wedd, Greg Weight, Jo White, JP Willis, Amanda Wolf, Christopher Zanko.
The Still exhibition opens on Friday 20th September 2019, with the official opening on Saturday 21st September, and runs until Saturday 30th November 2019. Still is the signature program of Coffs Harbour Regional Gallery – an Australia-wide award for artworks in the genre of still life, in all mediums, held every two years.