Cessnock Regional Art Gallery’s current exhibition, Life Stills by Philip Drummond, takes audiences on a visual journey that restages the classic tradition of still life painting.
The exhibition includes the artist’s broader practice such as landscapes that capture the light and unique geography of the Hunter Valley region, as well as exquisitely observed paintings of animal kind.
“The genre of still life painting has been employed by artists throughout history as both a conventional and experimental mode of visual inquiry,” CRAG curator Robina Booth said.
“What distinguishes this painting tradition from others, such as portraiture and landscape, is the study of inanimate objects.
“Such paintings are often composed in a way that suggests allegorical meaning.
Ms Booth said still life reached its most refined form in Northern Europe during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
“Drummond’s paintings continue this tradition; his still life compositions depict a fecund harvest of flowers cut at their fullest bloom, fruits picked at their ripest and game felled at its plumpest,” she said.
“These sumptuous images, resplendent with a bounty of earthly delights, are staged against ethereal dark backgrounds that act to untether them from a material world where all eventually fades and decays.”
Life Stills is on display at Cessnock Regional Art Gallery until Sunday, April 17.
This exhibition is in partnership with Tamburlaine Organic Wines, where the artist will also have works on exhibition.
Meanwhile, the gallery will host a still life painting class this Sunday as part of Seniors Week celebrations.
Award-winning artist Janine Matthews will guide participants through the painting process: finding a good composition, arranging a palette, mixing colours and creating form through tone.
The free workshop will run from 2pm to 4.30pm.
All materials will be supplied, along with afternoon tea and a lucky door prize.
Don’t forget a painting smock, apron or old shirt to protect your clothing.
To book your spot in the class, call 4991 6619, email info@crag.net.au or drop into the gallery during open hours (Tuesday to Sunday, 10am to 4pm) at 16 Vincent Street, Cessnock.
