All Photos By Gail
During my visit to Salon 94’s delightfully irreverent exhibition Shucks & Aww, one of the many stand out pieces was : a pristine porcelain toilet bowl filled to the brim with bright, plastic fruit. Created by Swiss artist Urs Fischer, the work — simply titled Untitled (2015) — perfectly captures the exhibition’s mash-up of the raw, the refined, and the knowingly ridiculous.
Continue reading A Toilet Bowl Full of Fruit: Urs Fischer at His Most Playfully Subversive
Photo By Gail
In this oil painting by Abraham Susenier (circa 1660s), a glistening lobster shell and two freshly shucked North Sea oysters entice the viewer with their succulence. This feast for the body is set against symbols of spiritual nourishment: a Römer glass filled with white wine and a cluster of grapes — both common Eucharistic emblems.
Continue reading Modern Art Monday Presents: Still Life With Lobster, Römer, Oysters, Grapes and a Knife By Abraham Susenier
Photo By Gail
After his January 1889 lease from the hospital in Arles, Vincent Van Gogh embarked on a series of still lifes, including crab studies. This painting my show the same crab upright and on its back. Parallel strokes sculpt the creature’s form on an exuberant, sea-like surface.
Photographed in the National Gallery in London
Photos By Gail
Does this look to you like a Pink Soda Can is wearing Pink Sunglasses? Because that’s what it looks like to me. This photo was absolutely not staged but part of real-life scenario I encountered near the downtown intersection of West 57th Street and Broadway. After a pause-and-crouch to snap a few pics, I was on my way again!
Just remember: Littering is not cool!
Photo By Gail
Many of Winslow Homer’s images of the Bahamas evoke the idea of the island as a paradise created especially for tourists. Enjoying local fruits was perceived as a fundamental luxury of the visitor experience, as one contemporary guidebook noted: “Oranges to daily break our fast in the morning, and delightfully crown our afternoon meal, are felt to be a necessity. Without them the most elaborate feast fails to satisfy.” This vibrant watercolor, Oranges On a Branch (1885), a rare still life by the artist, offers a complete sensory experience — ripe citrus, bright green leaves, and fragrant blossoms are bathed in warm sunlight.
Photographed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art as Part of Winslow Homer: Crosscurrents, on Exhibit Through July 31st, 2022.