Natureza-Morta X Still Life
It is intriguing that the Still life in all Northern European languages is so evidently linked to life, even if motionless, whereas in all Latin languages the same artistic practice is described as dead nature. Despite the fact that naturally an equation can be made between inert life and death, the same category of depiction is described from so opposite angles of view. It is through nuances, subtle contradictions and poetic irritation that the Still life holds such a central role in art history. Image of everyday objects like fruits and vegetables, pots, glasses, tools and other household objects have always been more than sheer exercises of observation, but instead developed into an autonomous art form from the 16th century onwards and simultaneously into a philosophical statement, describing the finitude of being and the equality of existence of things, organic or inorganic. In contemporary art, by arranging and re-arranging objects, by contrasting order and disorder, emptiness and fullness, presence and absence, artists encourage us to question the mental and physical space in which we live and the values attributed to our knowledge about things. The works presented in the exhibition entitled “Still life” at Galeria Fonte question the measures with which we describe the world we live in and the objects we define as art. Time standing still, as suggested in Jorge Macchis work, opens chances for the discovery of new systems of meaning and unexpected procedures.
* Jochen Volz is a curator at Inhotim