Still No More January 24 – April 15, 2023 Exhibiting Artists: Sarah Meyers Brent, Nicole Duennebier, Lindsey Lou Howard, Christina Pitsch, and Arden Surdam. Still No More presents a stimulating, renewed energy to the tradition of still life. Each exhibiting artist presents a synthesis of tradition and contemporary culture as they examine how still life continues to be relevant in artistic practice while propelling the style forward. The title of the exhibition references this sense of pushing beyond a static staged perspective in favor of work that reads as more of an evolutionary, convergent state between art history and contemporary culture. Through the mediums of ceramics, photography, sculpture, installation, and painting, the exhibition expands the potential of what a still life can be while preserving the essence of what makes the genre iconic and memorable. Although decorative and seemingly beautiful, the works on view weave elements of dystopia or tragedy into the narrative as they engage contemporary issues such as climate change, genetically modified foods, and mass consumption. The history and evolution of the still life span art history as a constant portal through which viewers glimpse into culturally relevant objects and reflect on their symbolism. While the exhibiting artists follow the still life tradition of presenting assumed markers of class, hierarchies of taste, and the reminder of impermanence, they do so with humor and undertones of dystopic tragedy. Each playfully resists classic sumptuous icons in favor of an array of high and low-brow objects that are indicators of our time. While traditional still lifes would celebrate ripe fruit and a silver chalice, Still No More elevates things like cast cinderblocks and cardboard, boxed cake mix, and discarded toys. What do these objects say of the contemporary moment? What predictions do they make for the future?
Sarah Meyers Brent’s mixed media works incorporate discarded items from her house, and community to create sculptures and alternative landscapes that embody the craziness of motherhood and environmental chaos. Born in Hadley, NY, Brent received her BS from Skidmore College, her Post-Baccalaureate in Studio Art from Brandeis University, and her MFA in painting from the University of New Hampshire. Brent is represented by the Chase Young Gallery in Boston and has exhibited widely. Her solo exhibition recently appeared at the Mayor’s Gallery in Boston, along with exhibits at Coastal Contemporary Gallery in Rhode Island and Catamount Arts in Vermont. Brent maintains a studio at Waltham Mills Artist Association in Waltham, MA.
Natural phenomenon and a love of old-master opulence combine with the commingling of attractive and repulsive textures in Nicole Duennebier’s paintings. Duennebier was born in Hartford, CT. She received her BFA at Maine College of Art with a major in painting where her thesis work was most influenced by research into the coastal ecosystems of Maine. In 2006 she was awarded the Monhegan Island Artists Residency where she continued her work with sea life and perceived a natural connection between the darkness and intricacy of undersea regions and the aesthetic of 16th-century Dutch still-life painting. Duennebier now lives and works in Malden, MA. She is a 2022 and 2016 Massachusetts Cultural Council Painting Fellow, and her work can be found in the permanent collection of the MFA Boston and New Britain Museum of American Art.
Lindsey Lou Howard’s work explores how food operates in our political, social, and cultural environment. Primarily working in ceramics, her sculptures engage with contemporary food politics, revealing food’s entanglements with environmental justice, capitalism, consumption, and sustainability. Howard received her BA from the University of Northern Colorado and is currently based in New York. Most recently, she has exhibited with Hashimoto Contemporary (Los Angeles), F18 Launch (New York), and Superhouse (New York).
Christina Pitsch is a mixed media sculptor known for her precise craftsmanship with numerous materials. An expert in mold making she often uses this technique to create multiple objects that come together to create installations that address perceptions of opulence. She holds a BA from Sarah Lawrence College and an MFA from the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University. She has exhibited extensively both in the US and internationally. Her exhibitions in the greater Boston area include shows at the Boston Sculptor's Gallery, Kingston Gallery, and the New Art Center. Her work is part of the Delta airlines collection and can be seen at the Seattle/Tacoma airport. She works from her studio in Manchester, NH.
Arden Surdam is a Turkish-American artist working in sculpture and photography. Her work investigates the interconnectivity of image making and marine life. Through research into man-made interference such as chemical spills or invasive species, she argues for an expanded conception of photography - one which highlights the planet’s fragility in light of anthropocentric dominance. Surdam completed her BA in Environmental Studies and Visual Arts at Oberlin College, USA and her MFA in Photo & Media at the California Institute of the Arts.