Space Cottonseed is proud to present Still-Life: A Frozen Moment, a group exhibition featuring five artists: Andres Barrioquinto, Youngseok Cha, Indra Dodi, Jaehoon Lee and Guo-Liang Tan. Still-Life: A Frozen Moment explores the genre of Still Life paintings, depicting unanimated subject matters in art history. The popularity of the genre flourished in the 17th century in Flemish painting, mostly making reference to ‘Dead Nature: Natura Morte.’ The world of dead nature reminds us of the ‘Mementori Mori’, the mortality of human life. Still Life was born out of religious and ethical backgrounds to remind humanity not to forget the ephemerality of life. However in the early 20th century, the works of Giorgio Morandi, a renowned still-life painter, revealed a whole different form of still life painting. Depicting still lifes of simple composition where similar shapes of bottles and vases were placed, Morandi was more interested in artistic expression and experimentation than the subject matter. He was a pioneer of experimental still life painting, in his search for a new territory of painting. Reflecting the characteristic of the age, the idea of Still Life painting has changed according to the different perspectives of how human beings view the world around them.

The works exhibited in Still-Life: A Frozen Moment will present different art practices of five artists working in the genre of Still Life painting. Are the artists still connected to the history of the painting or engaged within the views of humanity today? Does the dead nature tell us about the mortality of human beings or capture a frozen moment of time? Whereas Barrioquinto follows the tradition of Memento Mori implied in Still Life painting, Guo-Liang Tan explores the practice of painting in contemporary art with the help of the genre of Still Life painting. The exhibition Still-Life: A Frozen Moment introduces different practices of Still Life paintings through the five artists from different regions: and additionally poses the question of what Still life painting in contemporary art tries to deliver to the audience today.