top row from left

Tiger Lilies by Martha Armstrong, 2009, oil, 30 x 24.

All artwork this article courtesy Zeuxis.
Ceramic Basket and Towel by John Goodrich, 2009, oil
on board, 12 x 16
center row from left

Porch Door With Common Object by Susan Cohen,

2009, oil on wood, 16 x 12.
Feast of St. Francis by Elizabeth Geiger, 2009, oil, 36 x 30.
Open Cloth and Sweet Peas by Deborah Kirklun, 2009,
collage and watercolor, 131⁄2 x 121⁄2.
bottom row from left

Still Life With Coffee and Tea by Sydney Licht, 2009,

oil, 16 x 13.
Carmen Miranda Still Life by Margaret McCann, 2009,
oil, 40 x 30.
Still Life With Three Patterns and Six Figures
by Megan Williamson, 2009, oil, 22 x 14.

Zeuxis and the

art of the everyday
For a recent show, more than 30 still life painters created a painting
incorporating the same ordinary object. The results are revealing, both
about the artists themselves and about the value of pausing to examine the
common, uncelebrated things that surround us. | by Michael Gormley

D
uring sluggish economic times such as these, the need for frugality can sometimes lead to
greater overall moderation in thoughts and in actions. In a way, such moderation is a moral
undertaking, as lessening one’s excesses can lead to a greater understanding of oneself and of
what is truly valuable. These concerns bring to mind the archetype of the starving artist, although
it may be a romantic conceit. I recall a friend once remarking (in the economically robust 1990s,
nonetheless) that artists shouldn’t make a lot of money, because the accumulation of wealth can lead
to complacency and loss of resourcefulness. My friend may have been right. The artistic process, at
least in most traditional media, requires only a moderate investment of material resources—with
just a few tubes of paint and a bit of raw canvas an artist can create a whole universe. The artist’s
more substantial investment is in his or her careful attention to craft along with a sincere search for a
genuine self-expression informed by a spirited exploration of life. These aspects of the artistic under-
taking are essentially nonmaterial. True artistic expression is, by nature, alchemical—a transforma-
tion of nonverbal, often illogical, at times accidental, intents and processes into something singular
and unified.
Zeuxis, an association of still life painters, recently played with the idea of humble beginnings in
their exhibition “The Common Object.” This is an intriguing title, given that paintings are gener-
ally considered to be a rarefied, rather than a populist, item. The participating artists were asked to
create a still life incorporating the most utilitarian of objects—a kitchen dishtowel. The show offers
a meditative alternative to some of the art world’s more excessive spectacles. By focusing on the trans-
formation of unspectcular elements into subject matter worthy of artistic engagement, “The Com-
mon Object” reveals how the processes of artistic transmutation can alter our view of the world. The

46 American Artist www.ArtistDaily.com www.ArtistDaily.com February 2011 47

paintings carefully balance imitation
of the real world with aesthetic repre-
sentation; drawing, surface handling,
and compositional strategies share
center stage with a celebration of the
beauty everyday life has to offer.
Zeuxis is named after the ancient
painter who was born in southern It-
aly in the 5th century B.C. He created
several inf luential works, although
none have survived. He is perhaps
best known for the fabled contest he
staged with the painter Parrhasius to
determine who was the greater artist.
When their paintings were complete,
Zeuxis drew back the curtain to
unveil a painting of grapes, which
appeared so luscious and inviting
that birds f lew down to peck at
them. Zeuxis then asked Parrhasius
to pull aside the curtain and show
his painting, only for Parrhasius to
reveal that the “curtain” was actually
the painting itself. Zeuxis conceded
defeat, saying, “I have deceived the
birds, but Parrhasius has deceived
Zeuxis.”
Zeuxis member John Goodrich
explains that the association was
founded in New York City in 1994
by a group of painters seeking to
re-evaluate still life—considered collections of certain subjects—lightbulbs, for example.
in some traditions to be the least
prestigious painting genre—in the
About the Artist When an abstract bit of painting suggests something from
this collection, he’ll find a “real life” equivalent and begin
postmodern art world. Membership Richard Baker maintains an active exhibition and “locating the image” in the paint. Gradually, an entire
varies but usually numbers about 25 teaching schedule in addition to his studio prac- painting suggests itself in this manner.
artists, all of whom share an interest tice. In 2011 he will be featured in several shows, Baker uses Williamsburg, Gamblin, and Holbein oil
in a perceptual response to nature including at Gregory Lind Gallery, in San Francisco; paints. He employs various self-constructed surfaces,
and a search for aesthetic value. This Clark Gallery, in Lincoln, Massachusetts; and Arthur such as wood, canvas adhered to wood, and paper adhered
interest reveals itself in a wide variety of styles, influences, Above opposite pAge Rogers Gallery, in New Orleans. He conducts annual to canvas. For gouache paintings, he prefers to work on
Wonder Towel Orange, Black, and Coil workshops at the Fine Arts Work Center, in Provinc-
techniques, and motifs. by Richard Baker, 2009, gouache on by Bevin Engman, 2009, oil on Holbein and Arches hot-pressed 140-lb or 300-lb watercolor
Still life is an ideal subject in times of moderation and paper on board, 14 x 11. board, 18 x 22. etown, Massachusetts, and at the Truro Center for paper, and he uses Fabriano watercolor paper as well.
ref lection. It asks that we slow down and be quiet so that The Arts at Castle Hill, in Massachusetts. For the
we can truly see and appreciate what lies in our midst. past four years he has taught painting as an adjunct
A still life painting is essentially an interior view—both RiChaRD BakeR professor at Mason Gross School of the Arts, at Bevin engMan
because it usually depicts domestic objects and also Wonder Towel, by Richard Baker, is a whimsical view of the Rutgers University, in New Brunswick, New Jersey. Bevin Engman’s Orange, Black, and Coil offers an aus-
because of the contemplative nature of its production and show’s kitchen mainstay. The piece recalls the 19th-century tere view of minimalist shapes that reference Modernist
appreciation. Seeking out and finding the subtle nuances trompe l’oeil painter William Harnett, who often depicted tabletop designware. The folksy dishtowel fits uneasily
of objects and experiencing this heightened sensitivity is objects that were unlikely painting subjects. Baker reports a very small grouping. For the past five years or so, he has with these handsome objects that sport clean lines and
an immensely fulfilling aesthetic experience. Perhaps it that his working process involves simply staying aware been working on a gouache series depicting individual, surfaces. Engman, whose minimalist sensibility would
can help to quell the constant drive for the next thrill. By of his surroundings. He notes how things look, how they well-worn paperback books. Technically they are still lifes, find the towel’s clumsiness instrusive, takes great pains
seeing more and being sensitive to beauty, we crave less. are used, and what people do with them. When he finds but they are also, in a way, a form of portraiture. to manipulate and purify its shape into a clean and tight
Artists, particularly those the artists represented in “The objects that resonate with him, he acquires them and takes In general, Baker’s paintings begin as abstractions. He spiralling bundle. This energized, purified, relatively
Common Object,” help point the way to this contented them to his studio, where they become absorbed into his works on a surface for days—or sometimes for months or organic form acts as a foil against the composition’s display
existence with their focused vision and depiction of the collection of intriguing refuse. He doesn’t set up a still life years—until spaces, forms, and divisions begin to suggest of no-nonsense design and solidity. Yet one still senses that
real world. to paint from, preferring instead to paint a single object or subjects. He keeps a file of images in which he amasses the towel is crashing the party—an imposter that somehow

48 American Artist www.ArtistDaily.com www.ArtistDaily.com February 2011 49

slipped past the aesthetic painting, rather than becoming anachronistic, has
gatekeepers. n Advice become an increasingly radical pursuit. “I like to imagine
Engman says that she
is most interested in “the
From Bevin Engman French painters taking to the streets to protest in support
of slow art—much the way chefs champion the slow food
■ Consider the unique
territory where represen- movement. It’s for this reason I’ve valued my association
tation and abstraction character of your still life. with the people of Zeuxis. They are painters who share a
meet.” She has been What makes it unique in belief in the physical over the virtual and in the linking of
working in still life for hue range, value range, time to effort in the making of things of value.”
20 years, and the genre or saturation? Engman prefers Holbein oil paints, but she uses other
is ideally suited to her ■ Develop the painting as brands for certain colors, such as Winsor & Newton’s sap
explorations of perception a whole rather than as a green and mauve blue shade; and Old Holland’s Schev-
and the fugitive nature series of separate parts. eningen purple brown and kings blue deep. She also uses
of color. She also creates ■ Evaluate color as Liquin medium and Utrecht sable brushes. For supports,
landscapes and abstract comparative rather than she currently uses cradled birch plywood panels that she
gouache collages, and absolute hues. primes with Golden’s Sandable Hard Gesso.
regardless of genre or me- ■ Painting is challenging.
dium, her work remains
Be resilient and patient.
interrelated due to her MaRk kaRneS
overarching concern with Mark Karnes ups the banality ante with Light Bulb,
the formal behaviors of color, structure, and light. which features a “green” f lorescent bulb along with
Setting up still lifes is a fairly complex process, and the prescribed dishtowel. The results, however, are far
Engman notes that it takes a lot of experimentation and from banal. Employing a limited palette of muted grays,
refinement. She sometimes spends hours trying different barely-there greens, and smokey umbers, Karnes arrives
combinations of objects, light conditions, framing, and at a sensitive, nearly abstract study exploring value, tone,
points of view. After she arrives at a suitable arrangement, and gesture. The lightbulb, unmoored in a simultaneous
she determines the background color field that will pro- advance and retreat with the picture plane, both f loats
vide context behind the objects, and then begins to work above and rests upon the patterned towel, which has been
on the painting. “Everything is up for grabs for a long reduced to a gestural grid. The work appears foremost to
time,” she says. “Regardless of the composition, I look for be painterly, evincing a spirited brushwork that draws out
odd combinations of shapes, color, and overlapping forms. the essential elements of what has been observed in high
I try to encounter the objects newly as sensual, formal relief. Although clearly representational, the work sacri-
experiences.” fices verisimilitude in favor of abstract design principles
Engman usually works directly from life. “I find that and a rapid execution that preserves the immediacy and
converting a three-dimensional experience to a two- purity of visual perception.
dimensional language is fraught with challenges that
interest me,” she says. “In struggling with those chal-
opposite pAge Above
lenges, discoveries arise that I could not have predicted. Still Life With Light Bulb
I’m most interested in perceptual situations that I have Turkish Pitcher by Mark Karnes, 2009, oil on board, 4 x 6.
trouble understanding. I paint to gain that understanding. by William D. Barnes,
I guess I paint to assert not what I know but what I do not
2009, oil, 18 x 22. About the Artist
know.” Mark karnes holds a B.F.A. in painting from the
Engman believes that given the growth of technology Karnes offers no easy or foolproof method for ensur- University of the Arts, in Philadelphia, and an M.F.A.
in our culture and the resulting saturation of images, ing a successful work; he notes that he can sometimes in painting from Yale University, in New Haven, Con-
finish a painting in a day, though some take much longer. necticut. His drawings are in the permanent collec-
Generally he starts with a quick underpainting in raw tion of the National Gallery of Art, in Washington, DC,
umber, then he tries to get everything down in the first and he has received grants from numerous institu-
About the Artist sitting. “Sometimes they work and they’re finished, and tions, including from the National Endowment for
sometimes they can go on for several years,” he says. the Arts. He has recently exhibited at List Gallery, at
Bevin engman holds a B.F.A. in painting from Port-
Karnes’ paintings are generally executed in oil, for Swarthmore College, in Pennsylvania; The American
land School of Art (now the Maine College of Art) and
which he prefers Winsor & Newton paints. For acrylic Academy of Arts and Letters, in New York City;
a master’s from the University of Pennsylvania, in
paintings he uses Golden paints, and he has recently The International School of Painting, Drawing, and
Philadelphia. She teaches painting at Colby College,
enjoyed their new Open Acrylics product line. For his oil Sculpture Gallery, in Umbria, Italy; Gross McCleaf
in Waterville, Maine. She has exhibited at Arden Gal-
and acrylic paintings he uses Utrecht synthetic brushes. Gallery in Philadelphia; and Pinkard Gallery, at the
lery, in Boston; Bachelier Cardonsky Gallery, in Kent,
For his wash drawings and watercolor paintings he uses Maryland Institute College of Art, in Baltimore. For
Connecticut; and at the Colby Museum of Art.
Winsor & Newton watercolors, Raphael brushes, and more information, visit www.markkarnes.com.
Saunders Waterford paper.

50 American Artist www.ArtistDaily.com www.ArtistDaily.com February 2011 51

 left

On the Line
by Catherine Kehoe, 2009, oil on panel, 8 x 8.

CaTheRine kehOe
“Painting is all very difficult!” Catherine Kehoe exclaims. Kehoe’s
“And it doesn’t get any easier, because as I begin to master Materials
some aspect of the medium, I set different standards for
pAlette
myself. The standards are all internal. I don’t need anyone
■ Indian yellow
to tell me what is strong and what is not. The voice within
■ cadmium yellow
is loud and clear—it banishes all other voices from the
pale or lemon
studio.”
■ cadmium yellow
Kehoe’s painting On the Line is a forceful study of form,
■ cadmium yellow
color, and movement through the classic motif of drapery.
deep
Like Karnes, Kehoe pushes the envelope on the depiction
■ cadmium orange
of the banal by hanging her towel on a clothesline. Baroque
■ cadmium scarlet
drama meets domestic drugery as Kehoe stages a domes-
■ cadmium red
tic sacrifice signaled by the splay of the towel—a loaded
deep
gesture that recalls Francisco Zurbarán’s The Martyrdom of
■ alizarin crimson
Saint Serapion.
■ dioxazine violet
Kehoe works mostly from life and uses photographic
■ ultramarine blue
sources for certain groups of paintings. She notes that
■ cerulean blue
working from photographs expands the possibilities of
■ viridian
subject matter. “Photography is a tool we have at our
■ cadmium green
disposal as painters,” she says. “It was important to me
pale
that I not attempt to copy photographs but use them as a
■ sap green
source to make paintings. It is not easy to keep the painting
■ raw umber
part foremost when using a photographic source, although
■ burnt sienna
many of the painters I admire most find ways to use pho-
■ perylene crimson
tography to serve their painting.”
■ quinacridone
Kehoe arrives at something she wants to paint intui-
red
tively. Usually it takes a few days for her to come up with an
■ quinacridone
arrangement, and often she will need to tell herself to stop
violet
arranging and begin painting even though she isn’t con-
■ phthalocyanine
vinced she has found something worth depicting. “Some
blue
days I move things around and nothing looks interesting,”
■ phthalocyanine
she says. “Other days everything I place in front of my eyes
turquoise
excites me. I am not sure why my response is different each
■ cobalt teal or
turquoise

brUsHes
About the Artist ■ Utrecht Kolinsky
Catherine kehoe received a B.F.A. in painting from sable brights,
Massachusetts College of Art and Design, in Boston, Nos. 10 through
and an M.F.A. in painting from the School of Visual Arts, 16. These allow
in New York City. She has received numerous awards, for crisp, narrow
including a Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant, and has lines, as well as
participated in many exhibitions, including several solo broad shapes of
shows at Howard Yezerski Gallery, in Boston, where color.
she is represented. She teaches painting at Massachu-
sUrfAces
setts College of Art and Design. For more information,
■ 4"-x-6" panels
visit www.catherinekehoe.com.
and paperboard

52 American Artist www.ArtistDaily.com www.ArtistDaily.com February 2011 53

day. But I sit down to paint, regardless of how I am feeling copying or rendering the
about it. Within minutes I am fully engaged.” object but about finding
The artist prefers to work small. “I suppose the scale of
my paintings forces an intimate relationship between the
an equivalent—an image
that will stand in for it.”
viewer and the painting,” Kehoe says. “It’s like whispering. Miller often works a
There is a power in sotto voce and in intimate paintings. They fairly long time setting
don’t scream at you, but they invite your attention. Painting up a still life, but at other
a still life can be fraught with difficulty and failure. What times one falls into place
keeps me interested are those moments when I try a differ- quickly. She finds that she
ent, bolder, or simpler way and realize that is all I need.” returns to the same kinds
of forms and arrange-
ments and moves them
n Advice
From Ruth Miller
■ Go to the museums and
look at great painting.
The life and mystery of a
painting cannot really be
reproduced. Look long
and deeply at the real
thing.
■ Make sure you always

RuTh MiLLeR around until it seems have a sketchbook with

Ruth Miller is the classicist of the Zeuxis group. Her right—until a chord is you, especially when
painting Shell and Dishtowel is a carefully composed and struck. She believes this is traveling and visiting
painterly arrangement of space, form, texture, and move- mostly an intuitive process, museums.
ment. Miller states that she is always looking at the motif adding that, “In a sense, I
and trying to explain to herself how she sees it. “It is more am making the painting at
about how I am seeing than what I am seeing,” she says. both ends: choosing and arranging the setup, then recreat-
“I love the three-way relationship between me, my canvas, ing it on a two-dimensional surface through paint.”
and my motif. It is a long pursuit during which looking,
memory, and desire all play a part. I hope that when I do
below opposite pAge
justice to my subject, the geometry reveals itself. I am as
Shell and Dishtowel Still Life With Fork
interested in the presence of my subject as I am in a formal by Ruth Miller, 2009, oil, by Janice Nowinski, 2009,
concept of composition. My work is not about faithfully 10½ x 14. oil on linen, 22 x 28.

About the Artist
Ruth Miller holds a B.A. from the University of Mis-
souri, and she also studied at the Art Students League
of New York, in Manhattan. She has exhibited at the
Lohin Geduld Gallery, in New York City; the Eleanor
D. Wilson Museum, at Hollins University, in Roanoke,
Virgina; and The Alexandre Hogue Gallery, at the Uni-
versity of Tulsa, in Oklahoma. She has taught drawing
and painting at the New York Studio School of Drawing,
Painting, and Sculpture since 1973. Her work is in the
permanent collections of such notable institutions as
the Delaware Art Museum, in Wilmington; the University
of Delaware, in Newark; the Corcoran Gallery of Art, in
Washington, DC; the National Academy, in New York
City; and many others.
JaniCe nOWinSki
Like Miller, Janice Nowinski always works from direct
observation. Still Life With Fork is a study about the im-
mediacy of perception—a record of how one actually sees
and comprehends life as it unfolds. The setup is just a
jumping off point for Nowinski; what she is painting is
her experience. “I am not trying to do a realistic depic-
tion of the still life,” she says, “but instead to recreate my
experience in front of it, whatever that may be.”
Her work is foremost about painting and its unique
plastic language. Tonal relationships, gesture, and compo-
sition are the ascendant concerns in Nowinski’s process,
and her work references Cézanne, Jean-Baptiste Siméon
Chardin, and Chaïm Soutine. “Painting and drawing are
inseparable for me,” the artist says. “Each mark I make is
drawn and painted. I paint without preconception.”
Light is important to Nowinski, and she prefers the

54 American Artist www.ArtistDaily.com www.ArtistDaily.com February 2011 55

 ShaROn YaTeS
About the Artist Like Miller and Kehoe, Sharon Yates sees a world alive
with color harmonies. Mixed Flowers With Towel captures
Janice nowinski holds an M.F.A. from Yale Univer-
not only nature’s rich hues but also the bright light of a
sity, in New Haven, Connecticut, and she studied
September day. Yates notes that the work was completed in
with William Bailey, Andrew Forge, Vija Celmins,
one day. “It was painted outdoors in my yard where I picked
and Jake Berthot. She also studied at the New York
the flowers,” she says, adding that during the summer she
Studio School of Drawing, Painting, and Sculpture
made 12 to 15 other paintings leading up to it.
under Gretna Campbell and Mercedes Matter. She
Yates prefers to paint outdoors. The weather determines
is currently a member and director of the Bowery
her painting decisions, given its influence on the quality
Gallery. She was recently a visiting artist at the
of light and the position of the flowers. Because of the
University of New Hampshire, in Durham. Addition-
constantly shifting wind (her studio faces the sea), she
ally, Nowinski has taught at Long Island University
confronts unexpected changes at all times. She finds the
and has been a visiting artist-critic at Parsons The
movement caused by the wind both inspirational and nerve
New School for Design, in New York City, and Sarah
racking at the same time. “I tried taping the flowers to the
Lawrence College, New York. Her next solo show is
glass containers but to no avail,” she says.
scheduled for the Bowery Gallery in 2011. For more
The artist experiences conflicting impulses when
information, visit www.janicenowinski.com.
selecting and positioning her flowers. That is, she is
conscious of wanting to make formal decisions that achieve
a balanced design, yet she also wishes to submit to chance
gray light at the end of a day, when the tonal contrast is and impulse. She works on a toned gray surface and begins
the strongest. Matisse once said, “I don’t paint things, painting by using neutral
I only paint the difference between things.” Nowinski color to establish the main
follows this dictum, composing paintings by looking for areas of the composition. n Advice
relationships between the objects and always thinking of
how these relate to the whole composition. Her work-
Then comes full-bodied
brushwork to translate
From Sharon Yates
■ Intellectual curiosity,
ing process can be best described as spontaneous and close observation of color
instantaneous. “I respond to what emerges,” she states. and form. She says that she self-confidence, and
“If something interesting happens that has nothing to aims to interpret the colors intuition are essential.
do with my original inspiration, I follow it.” rather than to copy the ■ Instincts are reliable
The artist sets up a still life with similar objects each setup. tools for an artist.
time; a neutral colored cloth, a pepper grinder, a knife, Painting en plein air Theories are not.
a fork, a metal bowl, green pears, apples, walnuts, and continues to inspire Yates. ■ Developing skills is es-
maybe a lemon. She likes working from familiar ob- “I began painting flowers sential, as is knowledge
jects and rearranging them. “The objects don’t need to outdoors in my garden of past masters and
change because I do, as an artist,” she explains, adding nearly 20 years ago, at about contemporary artists.
that she often works on a still life for several months. the same time that I began ■ Learn and experiment
As time progresses, she gets to know the setup and the painting cows in the land-
freely as much as
painting. “Eventually, when an image emerges that scape,” she says. “I continue
possible.
matches the experience I had in front of it, I know I’m both subjects to this day.
■ Knowing what feels true
done,” she says. They seem to satisfy my
Besides still lifes, Nowinski paints self-portraits and need to deal with the un- to oneself is the real
transcriptions of masterworks. Her transcriptions are predictable forces of nature. challenge.
closely related to her still lifes. For example, when she I love being immersed in ■ Failed paintings are the
copied the Raft of the Medusa, by Théodore Géricault, she the outdoors in spite of the best teachers.
felt that the figures were substitutes for still life objects difficulties.”
and that the raft was a substitute for a tabletop. Yates primarily paints Above

Nowinski prefers working on linen prepared with
rabbit-skin glue and oil priming white and uses the
Raphael Kaerell No. 10 synthetic brush. She notes that
she uses one until it wears out, usually in a month, and
then starts painting with another one. “They are like
the poor man’s sable brush!” she says. “I like working
with a small brush because I often make linear painting
moves and I feel more connected to the marks on the
canvas.”
with Winsor & Newton and Blockx oils and Silver Brush’s
Grand Prix bristles (filberts and rounds). For small plein
air paintings she uses archival Arches Cover paper stapled
to a board. She primes her paper with two coats of Liquitex
gesso followed by two coasts of matte medium. When her
painting is complete, she removes it from the board and
mounts it on a Masonite panel.
Michael Gormley is the editorial director of American Artist.
Mixed Flowers With Towel
About the Artist by Sharon Yates, 2009, oil on panel,
10 x 11.
Sharon Yates holds a B.F.A. from Syracuse University and an M.F.A. from Tulane
University, in New Orleans. She has recently exhibited at First Street Gallery,
in New York City; and at several galleries in Maine—Northern Tides, in Lubec,
Dowling Walsh Gallery, in Rockland, and June Fitzpatrick Gallery, in Portland.
■ Yates is an academician member at the National Academy, in New York City, and
a professor emeritus at the Maryland Institute College of Art, in Baltimore.

56 American Artist Reprinted from American Artist: Copyright © 2011 by Interweave Press, LLC. All rights reserved. www.ArtistDaily.com www.ArtistDaily.com February 2011 57