One of a series of exhibitions focusing on traditional artistic genres. Like Landscape, which toured Europe 2000-01, the subject provides a thematic focus for a diverse selection of work, mostly recent purchases for the British Council Collection. The exhibition has been created specifically for a tour of Latin American countries and has been conceived as a collaborative project, a co-curated exhibition of work from other countries shown alongside or integrated with the British selection wherever possible.

By definition an arrangement of everyday objects, the still life evolved as an independent category of art in the seventeeth century. It was deemed to occupy the lowest rank of importance in the nineteenth century academies but became the characteristic pictorial genre for artists involved in most twentieth century art movements. Adopted by the avant-garde and thoroughly transformed, the still life has proved to be a remarkably adaptable mode of expression. The works in this exhibition include both contemporary explorations of traditional still life imagery and object assemblages representing current expressions of an evolved genre.  The exhibition incorporates a full range of media including sculpture, photography, installation, painting and video.

Artists represented in the British selection of the exhibition curated by Ann Gallagher:

Bank, Anna Barriball, Martin Boyce, Patrick Caulfield, Nigel Cooke, A.K. Dolven, Roger Hiorns, Emma Kay, Christina Mackie, Mike Nelson, John Riddy, Jane Simpson, Simon Starling, Gary Webb, Richard Wentworth, Rebecca Warren, John Wood and Paul Harrison

Latin American artists represented as part of the collaborative Still Life/ Naturaleza Muerta tour:

In Caracas, curated by Julietta Gonzales:
Juan Araujo, Mariana Buminov, Alexander Gerdel, Diana Lopez, Luis Molina Pantin

In Mexico City, curated by Gonzalo Ortega and Paulo Santascoy:
Mauricio Alejo, Horacio Cadzco, Michael Coombs, Gabriela Galvan, Enrique Greiner y Fernando Llanos, Francisco Larios, Richard Moszka, Edith Pons, Ricardo Rendon, Cristian Silva, Sofia Taboas, Diego Teo

In Bogota, curated by Jose Ignacio Roca:
Milena Bonilla, Nicolas Consuegra, Beatriz Eugenia Diaz, Lina Dorado y Luis Cantillo, Juan Manuel Echavarrio, Beatriz Gonzalez, Juan Fernando Herran, Imagen Pirata, Juan Leal Ruiz, Rafael Ortiz, Nadin Ospina, Boris Perez, Bernardo Salcedo

In Sao Paulo and Niteroi, curated by Katia Canton:
Alex Flemming, Antonio Enrique Amaral, Beatriz Milhazes, Beth Moyses, Cristina Rogozinski, Elias Muradi, Ernesto Neto, Fatima Nader, Flavia Ribero, Georgia Kyriakakis, Guto Lacaz, Iran do Espirito Santo, Jac Leirner, Julio Schmidt, Laura Vinci, Leda Catunda, Luiz Zerbini, Marcia Xavier, Nina Moraes, Paulo Climachauska, Paulo Lima Buenoz, Paze, Regina Carmona, Regina Silveira, Regina Vater, Sandra Tucci, Silvia Mecozzi, Shirley Paes Leme, Valeska Soares, Vicente de Mello

In Lima, curated by Rodrigo Quijano:
Mariella Agios, Juan Enrique Bedoya, Fernando Bryce, Milagros de la Torre, Ivan Esquivel, Sandra Gamarra, Philippe Gruenberg, Billy Hare, Pablo Hare, Eduardo Hirose, Gilda Mantilla

Exhibition tour dates:

Museo de arte de Lima, Peru              14 Apr – 18 Jun 2005

Museu de Arte Contemporanea Niteroi, Brazil               20 Nov 2004 – 27 Feb 2005

SESI Sao Paulo (Museo de Arte Contemporanea), Brazil                2 Aug – 7 Nov 2004

Museo de Arte Moderna, Guatemala City               30 Mar – 30 Apr 2004

Museo de Arte Contemporaneo, Panama City                 21 Jan – 2 Mar 2004

Biblioteca Luis Angel Arango, Bogota, Colombia                 24 Sept – 30 Nov 2003

Museo de Arte Carillo Gill, Mexico D.F.                  16 Jul – 7 Sept 2003

Museo de Bellas Artes, Caracas, Venezuela                 4 May – 22 Jun 2003

Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Santiago Chile                 6 Nov 2002 – 8 Jan 2003

An accompanying education programme has been designed by education consultant Norma Rosso to suit the needs of various age groups. A full colour 92 pp catalogue (English, Spanish and Portuguese versions) with a text by curator Ann Gallagher is available from Cornerhouse Publications  and series of lectures by artists and curators has taken place at each venue.

For further information please contact Hannah Hunt