Evocative Objects: Still Life Painting in Texas

Aug. 12–Oct. 3, 2021
J. Wayne Stark Galleries | Memorial Student Center, MSC 1110

*Check our homepage or call for opening information before coming to see this exhibition.

Evocative Objects: Still Life Painting in Texas is an insightful exploration of the radical evolution in the treatment of space, color, form, composition, and expression in still life painting in the state during the 20^th century. Works featured comprise selections from the William and Linda Reaves Collection of Texas Art, as well as from other important private and museum collections across the state.

This exhibition represents the inaugural installation in the Texas Art Project series.

“The innovative drive of the art of the last half of the 20^th century has led to a sense of the period as hostile to older aesthetic conventions, many of which were widely challenged. Yet from the century’s first decade to the present day, from Robert Jenkins Onderdonk and Jose Arpa through to Otis Dozier and David Bates, many of the most accomplished artists in Texas embraced the still life as a vital opportunity for invention. Challenging the common classification of the still life as a minor form—a perception that has haunted the genre throughout its centuries-old history—this exhibition reveals that still life paintings offer unique insight into not only of their makers’ interests and formal concerns, but also of the time and place of creation. This exhibition reveals several specific qualities that have made the genre so attractive to artists, and so enduring from the late 19^th century through the 20^th century in the state.”

–Judy Tedford Deaton, Chief Curator, Director of Exhibitions and Collections, The Grace Museum, Abilene, TX