One look at a still life by
Paulette Tavormina and the viewer is transported to the Dutch Golden Age,
reminded of the drama of Italian
, and challenged with the question, is that a
painting or a photograph? Her works are in fact photographs, and they’re taken
right in Manhattan at the artist’s Upper East Side studio, yet their
contents—live crabs, cranberry beans, Chinese walnuts, and watermelon radishes,
to name a few—suggest a distant locale, and her mastery of the genre in its
traditional form, recalls another era. Tavormina’s ability to translate storied
natura morta painting into contemporary photography is a feat, and her
success lies in a fascination with
, experience as a food and prop stylist, and
personal histories embedded in each work.
Tavormina
cites master painters like
, Giovanna Garzoni, and
as influences, and she often imitates elements of
their masterpieces in some of her photographs.
Quince,
after G.G. refers to Garzoni’s
Bowl of Citrons;
Oranges, after F.d.Z.,
recalls Zurbarán’s
Still Life with Lemons, oranges and a Rose;
Crabs and Lemon, after P.C.
refers to
’s
Two Crabs; and
Oysters, after W.C.H.,
refers to
Still life with oysters, a rummer, a lemon and a
silver bowl by
. Each
painting is one that Tavormina has encountered in person or through research,
which she feels a connection to, whether it be nearby at the Metropolitan
Museum, or during her travels to Italy and the Netherlands.
The fresh fruits, seafood, and other props found in
Tavormina’s tableaux are constantly sourced from her favorite New York City
outposts including the Union Square Greenmarket, shops in the flower district,
and antique stores. Additionally, she draws from a collection of miscellaneous
objects she has accumulated over the years, from bumblebees to rustic wooden
tables from New Mexico, each item sentimentally linked to its origins and the
untold story that led her to it. Tavormina once told
Interiors Magazine, “They’re all little love stories, really, and they all have
secret symbols.”
In her current exhibition that spans both Robert Klein
Gallery locations in Boston, “
Black & Bloom,” Tavormina presents her new “
Botanicals” series. Inspired by 17th-century Flemish painter
, this series takes a new perspective, observing
exceedingly fresh-looking plant, flower, and insect specimens, from above. When
asked if she would consider creating still lifes reflecting the present
cultural zeitgeist, Tavormina replied that although she has considered it, the
Old Master models offer more “romance,” and that fresh food has an undeniable
appeal; in
her words, “I like things to tell a story. Fresh food, food that goes
bad, is more interesting to me, because it’s about abundance, and the beauty,
but then it goes bad, it’s doomed. That’s what happens. It’s very human.”
“Black & Bloom:
Botanicals” is on view at Robert Klein Gallery, Ars Libri, 500 Harrison Ave.,
Boston, Feb. 7th–Mar. 29th, 2014.
“Black & Bloom: Still
Lifes” is on view at Robert Klein Gallery, 38
Newbury Street, Boston, Feb. 8th–Mar. 29th, 2014.