Alan Gerson: "Dutch,
Flemish, and Italian Still Lives"
In this series of paintings
based in part on traditional Dutch, Flemish and Italian still
lives, Gerson has reinforced the notion of 'vanitas' (vanity)
which permeates the entire genre by making the beautiful flowers
themselves dangerous and ominous. Some of the works include snakes,
snails and insects which carry on the traditional underlying
idea of the still life as memento mori or reminder of our mortality...the
theme that all is vanity. He has heightened the brightness of
the light on the flora and fauna and have made them look in some
cases as if they were set in the absolute blackness of outer
space where the light that hits objects is pure and undiluted.
But in contrast to empty space Gerson has filled the canvases
so that they are bursting with life and color. He has to create
an atmosphere lush with life and growth; a world hungry and pulsing
with desire as well as danger.
Click on an image
to see a larger picture of that work.
In this series of paintings
based in part on traditional Dutch, Flemish and Italian still
lives, Gerson has reinforced the notion of 'vanitas' (vanity)
which permeates the entire genre by making the beautiful flowers
themselves dangerous and ominous. Some of the works include snakes,
snails and insects which carry on the traditional underlying
idea of the still life as memento mori or reminder of our mortality...the
theme that all is vanity. He has heightened the brightness of
the light on the flora and fauna and have made them look in some
cases as if they were set in the absolute blackness of outer
space where the light that hits objects is pure and undiluted.
But in contrast to empty space Gerson has filled the canvases
so that they are bursting with life and color. He has to create
an atmosphere lush with life and growth; a world hungry and pulsing
with desire as well as danger.
