Shelley Reeves
Over the course of my career I have investigated the nature of still
life through several different series. Siri Hustevedt in her essay
Ghosts
at the Table noted that still life offers the possibility of being
one of the most subversive genres of painting simply because it labours
under the weight of its own insignificance. When there is the absence
of the human form in a representational painting we are forced to
contemplate the objects. In both my portrait and still life paintings
the place
of the object serves to offer meaning, or nonsense depending on the
interpretation of the viewer. In the series, Planet Lily, (an installation
of 5 paintings) I have chosen a 15th century globe, wine glasses
and white lilies as my cast of characters, placed upon a mirror,
so doubled
or reflected perfectly against a perfect day's blue sky. The choice
of objects reflects an interest in moving an already heavily laden
genre of painting even further out by squarely embracing flower painting.
Insignificance piled upon eye candy. The style of realism also philosophically
demands that we must think about the nature of visual reality while
gazing upon a series of clichés. By choosing these kinds of
classical references I am simply hoping to breathe new life into a
timeworn genre and to use beauty to accompany a kind of mourning for
the planet, as we use flowers at a funereal. Finally, the series of
still lives place themselves in the tradition of Vanitas, addressing
the basic values of the ephemereal quality of life and its transient
beauty.
Shelley Reeves est née dans l'Ouest canadien où elle a obtenu
son diplôme de la faculté d'art et de design du Alberta College
of Art. Elle a poursuivi ses études à l'Université Concordia
(BFA) et à l'Université de Québec à Montréal
(maîtrise ès arts). Elle est professeure titulaire au Collège
Dawson et enseigne à l'université Concordia. Elle a participé à plusieurs
expositions, notamment à la Galerie Luz, à Montréal, à la
Vanderleelie Gallery, à Edmonton, au Karen Golden Fine Art, à New
York, à la galerie de l'Université du Québec à Montréal
ainsi qu'à la Galerie Vecchio, à Cannes. Les œuvres
de Shelley Reeves se trouvent dans la Banque des œuvres du Conseil
des Arts du Canada, la collection du Ministère des Communautés
culturelles du Québec et la collection de Prêt d'œuvres
d'art du Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec.
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Shelley Reeves
Portrait of Susan, 2007
diptyque, deux panneaux de 0,56 X 0,71 m
huile sur toile |
