Shelf Still Life
Shelf Still Life
Signed Print
Jonas Wood
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81 x 66cm, Edition of 80, Lithograph
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Meaning & Analysis
Shelf Still Life (2018) is a signed lithograph by Jonas Wood featuring flat, poster-like images of vases, flower pots, and fruit bowls on wooden shelves. Sharing a strong visual affinity with the work of Henri Matisse, the print shows how simple artefacts of everyday life inspire the artist’s way of approaching colour, line, and dimensions. In particular, abstract shapes visible on some of the central objects bring to mind the French artist’s famous collages, including Acrobatic Dancer (1949) and Standing Blue Nude (1952). In this print, both objects and wooden surfaces that support them appear flattened-out, echoing a childlike way of approaching dimensions in drawing. Revealing the artist’s tender look on his surroundings, this way of representing still-life, landscapes, and interiors holds a consistent presence in Wood’s body of work.
The characteristic representational style places Wood among the rich lineage of artists including Henri Matisse and David Hockney whose depictions of objects in Still Life With Shell (1940) and Four Flowers In Still Life (1990), respectively, are famous for endowing the fabric of everyday life with a dreamlike quality. Wood commented in the context of the subject matter of his artworks: "You could call [my work] a visual diary or even a personal history. I’m not going to paint something that doesn’t have anything to do with me. Of all of the possible things I could paint, the thing that interests me is something that I can get close enough to in order to paint it honestly."