"Clay Bodvin: A Brief History of Object and Desire..."
2007-07-24 until 2007-08-10
Artful Gallery
Auckland, , NZ New Zealand (Aotearoa)

From July 24, Artful Gallery in Newmarket presents a collection of work by Clay Bodvin. Where the notion of a still life painting is less like a self-contained, completed truth and more like an evolving experiment - one which considers the luxurious nature of everyday things found in the raw material of the still life. Pre-arranged interiors (courtesy of the museum and historical-house culture) and digitally-constructed rooms provide the backdrops to these re-painted, everyday objects and spaces. Bodvin translates flowers, chairs, vases, tables, patterns and textures into things sumptuous and exotic. Including inkjet prints on art-paper and canvas; collage-work on canvas and panel; and a dramatic, free-standing screen. Clay Bodvin has been a Premiere Portfolio Artist at absolutearts.com since 2004.

Think early 1600s. Religion losing control. Threats to importance by changing manufacturing methods. New lavish abundance; unparalleled desires for luxury goods. The newly privileged, style-conscious with increasing compulsion to enhance personal, sensual pleasure through consumption. Still life paintings are status items displaying patrons' tastes, desires. Conspicuous public records of ability to acquire and consume.

Think middle 1800s. Further religious decline. Further improvements in production capabilities. More spectacular commodity consumption. Extraordinary populist rebirth of still life again. Exemplified by Matisse rendering luxurious nature of everyday things. Without being definitive in representation. This sumptuous materialism counter-balanced by Picasso’s detached, clinical interpretations.

Fast forward again. The still life reinvented, again.

View more of Clay's work at: http://www.absolutearts.com/portfolios/m/mediummixer/

IMAGE
Clay Bodvin
Title: DoubleCoded Still Life I
Year Created: 2007
Medium: Other Photograph
Width: 500 mm
Height: 500 mm
Depth: 1 mm
Edition Size: 6

Related Links:

Indepth Arts Resources for New Zealand

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