Here’s the Thing

Still life is not just flora and fauna. So, hands down to artist Robert Cottingham for curating the “Here’s The Thing: Single Object Still Life” spring exhibition at the Katonah Museum of Art, where everyday objects are the new still life.

On Wednesday, May 21, I joined 50 fifth-graders for a breathtaking, attention-grabbing tour of paintings, sculptures, drawings, and prints. Some pieces were created to fool the eye, while others were maquettes and Herculean-size.

We were all fooled by a brick, 1890 $20 dollar bill, and a dirty beaten packing box.

To jump start the tour the docent asked the students if they could take home one piece what would it be. The girls said the oversize chocolate kiss oil on canvas, one student said he’d place the enormous domino on his wall. I couldn’t decide between the framed airmail envelope or the flatten black telephone.

Although the docent told the students not to touch, it was hard not rubbing your hands across the ginormous Excedrin box made from 121 Excedrin boxes as well as the bronze sculpture money bag.

More than finding the beauty in everyday objects and the artist also depicted supersized consumerism in our country with various oversized paintings such as a cinema speaker, a sandal, and a sugar shaker.

Here’s the Thing is worth the trip, the exhibition continues until June 29.