ARTISTS
Still life with a curtain
鈥淪till Life with a Curtain鈥� takes its inspiration from an anecdotal story in ancient Greece. The main characters of this story, Zeuxis and Parrhasios were two lucky painters, both at the pinnacle of their carriers, but choosing between them seemed almost impossible. To determine the greatest artist, it was imperative that the two confronted at a painting duel! Each artist was assigned a fragment along a wall to work in privacy, avoiding the other鈥檚 prying eyes. Members of the jury, selected and invited with upmost care, were to evaluate the murals they painted, to establish and declare the winner, and to end this unresolvable rivalry.
Those who had seen Zeuxis鈥� previous paintings were instantly awed by them, whereas Parrhasios鈥� success lied in his unravelling over time. Through their art, one evoked the excitement of initial surprises, and the other, the wealth of deep thoughts. The gathering for the selection did not only include select critics but also curious crowds of people behind them. Zeuxis and Parrhasios have each covered their paintings with a curtain, and the jury asked Zeuxis to unveil his first...
The mural behind the curtain showed a bowl full of fruits. How could Zeuxis have joined such a fierce competition with just a simple still life? Yet, before long, the sour taste of the grapefruits, the firmness of the pears, the juice of the grapes spread into everyone鈥檚 palates. While the jury started to practically taste the fruits, a bird, attracted to these juicy grapes, dived full speed towards the mural with the hope of stealing one and in front of everyone鈥檚 eyes, hit the wall and dropped dead on the ground. Agitated by this victim of the painting鈥檚 realism, it took some time for the crowd to regain their calm.
When the jury finally turned to Parrhasios, asking him to lift his curtain, he said, 鈥淐an鈥檛 be done!鈥�. Had he accepted defeat from the very outset? Hardly suppressing his impatience and that of the public awaiting under the sun, Zeuxis repeated: 鈥淲e want to see your painting鈥�. Parrhasios replied: 鈥淵ou are already looking at it鈥�. Parrhasios had painted a curtain for the competition! And its realism had blinded everyone standing in front of it to such extent that they were expecting it to lift up. Who is the better jury of a still life, a bird hungry with appetite, or the people always valuing the invisible?
鈥淪till Life With a Curtain鈥� is an exhibition of still lives. Dedicated to C茅zanne who established still life as the foundation of modernism, the exhibition takes its title from one of the most well-known examples of his more than 200 still life paintings. In reference to this painting, which is currently preserved at the Hermitage Collection, the exhibition questions the transformative role of the genre in today鈥檚 art. On the other hand, with reference to Zeuxis and Parrhasios鈥� legend and building on the endless dichotomy of nature and culture through still life, the works in the exhibition are presented in pairs. To contemplate two works simultaneously and to discover the infinitude of their mutual reflections is the perfect game to flutter the curtains in our eyes. With 鈥淪till Life With a Curtain鈥�, Galerist invites 鈥渃urious crowds of people鈥� similar to those in the legend, to play along.
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鈥淪till Life with a Curtain鈥� takes its inspiration from an anecdotal story in ancient Greece. The main characters of this story, Zeuxis and Parrhasios were two lucky painters, both at the pinnacle of their carriers, but choosing between them seemed almost impossible. To determine the greatest artist, it was imperative that the two confronted at a painting duel! Each artist was assigned a fragment along a wall to work in privacy, avoiding the other鈥檚 prying eyes. Members of the jury, selected and invited with upmost care, were to evaluate the murals they painted, to establish and declare the winner, and to end this unresolvable rivalry.
Those who had seen Zeuxis鈥� previous paintings were instantly awed by them, whereas Parrhasios鈥� success lied in his unravelling over time. Through their art, one evoked the excitement of initial surprises, and the other, the wealth of deep thoughts. The gathering for the selection did not only include select critics but also curious crowds of people behind them. Zeuxis and Parrhasios have each covered their paintings with a curtain, and the jury asked Zeuxis to unveil his first...
The mural behind the curtain showed a bowl full of fruits. How could Zeuxis have joined such a fierce competition with just a simple still life? Yet, before long, the sour taste of the grapefruits, the firmness of the pears, the juice of the grapes spread into everyone鈥檚 palates. While the jury started to practically taste the fruits, a bird, attracted to these juicy grapes, dived full speed towards the mural with the hope of stealing one and in front of everyone鈥檚 eyes, hit the wall and dropped dead on the ground. Agitated by this victim of the painting鈥檚 realism, it took some time for the crowd to regain their calm.
When the jury finally turned to Parrhasios, asking him to lift his curtain, he said, 鈥淐an鈥檛 be done!鈥�. Had he accepted defeat from the very outset? Hardly suppressing his impatience and that of the public awaiting under the sun, Zeuxis repeated: 鈥淲e want to see your painting鈥�. Parrhasios replied: 鈥淵ou are already looking at it鈥�. Parrhasios had painted a curtain for the competition! And its realism had blinded everyone standing in front of it to such extent that they were expecting it to lift up. Who is the better jury of a still life, a bird hungry with appetite, or the people always valuing the invisible?
鈥淪till Life With a Curtain鈥� is an exhibition of still lives. Dedicated to C茅zanne who established still life as the foundation of modernism, the exhibition takes its title from one of the most well-known examples of his more than 200 still life paintings. In reference to this painting, which is currently preserved at the Hermitage Collection, the exhibition questions the transformative role of the genre in today鈥檚 art. On the other hand, with reference to Zeuxis and Parrhasios鈥� legend and building on the endless dichotomy of nature and culture through still life, the works in the exhibition are presented in pairs. To contemplate two works simultaneously and to discover the infinitude of their mutual reflections is the perfect game to flutter the curtains in our eyes. With 鈥淪till Life With a Curtain鈥�, Galerist invites 鈥渃urious crowds of people鈥� similar to those in the legend, to play along.
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