Still Life

In his painting, Austin Eddy formulates contradictions; he draws on the traditions of classical modernism, exploring the balance between figuration and abstraction. The main motifs in his works are birds, fish, and flowers. These figurative elements unfurl into still lifes, landscapes, and cityscapes. Painted in bold colors and modulated using various textures of paint application, the pictorial elements appear in a perspectival coexistence, in a network of lines and surfaces, thereby forming a complex structure of spatial overlays. Similar pictorial motifs reappear repeatedly in different formations, colors, and compositions. This serial approach and the abstract nature of the motifs initially contradict the notion of a living, grow­ ing and expressive depiction of nature. The artist is actually less concerned with a spontaneous manifestation of an affinity with nature, but rather with an examination of the way in which nature is conveyed in art. This context is further indicated by the title of the exhibition: Still Life – a still image, still alive – captured in an atmospheric oeuvre of vibrant colors, vivid border motifs, abstract planes of light.