Statement
Peter Saville, legendary designer of iconic 1980s album covers, once remarked of his cover for the New Order album Power, Corruption, and Lies that “flowers suggested the means by which power, corruption, and lies infiltrate our lives.” The cover, an appropriation of an image from Henri Fantin-LaTour depicts a basket of roses in full bloom, their very floridness rife with sex (and death by extension); “whores for the bees,” as it were. But for the average, gloom-and-doom obsessed 1980s kid, Saville’s work represented membership in the tribe. The tribe of goth, the kids of Reaganomics, “Thatcher’s bloody Britain.” They were a nihilistic lot, too young for punk, too old for whatever the 90s were. It was a group fearful of the world’s end, not sure about tomorrow. But the future came and the goths went back into the shadows.
The history of still-life painting, of which the Dutch painters of the Enlightenment Age can claim total mastery, is one of capturing an image in the controlled setting of the studio, whereby the artist plays the tyrant, bending and shaping the objects of the still-life to her own will. The lighting, composition, and selection of objects all play a role in the theater of vanity, each choice reflecting a complex set of metaphorical signs. The artist subverted all of this control through the illusion of naturalism. Photographers like Karl Blossfeldt looked at the forms of nature as a language of shapes, desaturating his subjects of any color, reducing them to pure form.
To say that Claire Chauvin’s work is only about death, form, or anxiety about the future is somehow too simple. They are all of that. The continuous backdrop paradoxically suggests an endless landscape and a stiflingly closed off space. The flowers are alive, but dying. The colors are vivid, but somehow unnatural, as if some machine at the heart of an artificial intelligence is pumping out all the possibilities of color. Man-made materials meet organic forms in a naturally-lit, but saturated, unreal atmosphere. Here, as in the paintings of the Netherlandish masters, we see the ravages of time captured in an instant. The elegant curves of drooping flowers butt up against the hard edges of plastic, geometric forms. However, these images are not suggestive of an interrupted dinner party or reverie. They are too clean for that. Something vaguely alchemical lurks in the negative space, willing the viewer to discover the key to the mysteries within. Time passes through these images.
- Patrick Phipps
The history of still-life painting, of which the Dutch painters of the Enlightenment Age can claim total mastery, is one of capturing an image in the controlled setting of the studio, whereby the artist plays the tyrant, bending and shaping the objects of the still-life to her own will. The lighting, composition, and selection of objects all play a role in the theater of vanity, each choice reflecting a complex set of metaphorical signs. The artist subverted all of this control through the illusion of naturalism. Photographers like Karl Blossfeldt looked at the forms of nature as a language of shapes, desaturating his subjects of any color, reducing them to pure form.
To say that Claire Chauvin’s work is only about death, form, or anxiety about the future is somehow too simple. They are all of that. The continuous backdrop paradoxically suggests an endless landscape and a stiflingly closed off space. The flowers are alive, but dying. The colors are vivid, but somehow unnatural, as if some machine at the heart of an artificial intelligence is pumping out all the possibilities of color. Man-made materials meet organic forms in a naturally-lit, but saturated, unreal atmosphere. Here, as in the paintings of the Netherlandish masters, we see the ravages of time captured in an instant. The elegant curves of drooping flowers butt up against the hard edges of plastic, geometric forms. However, these images are not suggestive of an interrupted dinner party or reverie. They are too clean for that. Something vaguely alchemical lurks in the negative space, willing the viewer to discover the key to the mysteries within. Time passes through these images.
- Patrick Phipps
CV
School
1994- BFA- University of Houston
1997- MFA- University of Houston
Work History
1997-1999: Photography Instructor- High School for Performing and Visual Arts, Houston, Texas
1998- 2002: Education Associate- Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston, Texas
2004-present: Photography Instructor- Alvin High School, Alvin, Texas
Solo Exhibitions
2023- Fresh Awakening- CityCentre, Houston, Texas
2019- Current Work- Robert-Lawrence Designs, Dallas, Texas
2019- Recent Work- Front Gallery, Houston, Texas
2015- Adolescere- Kaboom Books, Houston, Texas
Selected Group Exhibitions
2023- The Big Show- Lawndale Art Center, Houston, Texas
2022- Vision: Color Photography- Black Box Gallery, Portland, Oregon
2022- Power, Corruption, and Lies- BOX 13 ArtSpace, Houston, Texas
2021- The Big Show- Lawndale Art Center, Houston, Texas
2020- Testing, Probando- BOX 13 ArtSpace, Houston, Texas
2019- 2019 Center Annual- Houston Center for Photography, Houston, Texas
2018- Furtherance- BOX 13 ArtSpace, Houston, Texas
2018- Ratio Redux- Hardy & Nance Studios, Houston, Texas
2017- Boxing the Storm- 500X Gallery, Dallas, Texas
2017- Gulf Currents- TEN Gallery, New Orleans, Louisiana
2017- Learning Curve- Houston Center for Photography, Houston, Texas
2017- The Big Show- Lawndale Art Center, Houston, Texas
2015- Best in Show- BOX 13 ArtSpace, Houston, Texas
2013- Mentor Show- Alvin Community College, Alvin, Texas
2012- Monster Show- Domy Books, Houston, Texas
2011- Mentor Show- Arts Alliance, Clear Lake, Texas
2010- SnackProjects- Lawndale Art Center, Houston, Texas
Related Projects
Fall 2023- Featured photographer in Superpresent magazine
February 2017-2022- Resident artist at BOX 13 Artspace
December 2016- Winner of annual Faces competition in PDN Magazine
April 2016- Featured photographer in Violet Book
October 2011- Featured project on apartmenttherapy.com
September 2011- Featured project in Mine Magazine
July 2011- Featured photographer on craftzine.com
April 2011- Featured project on lifehacker.com
April 2010- Guest appearance on the Martha Stewart Show
October 2009- Featured project on apartmenttherapy.com
February 2009- Featured project on apartmentherapy.com
April 2009- Featured project on designsponge.com
October 2008- Participant at Maker Faire, Austin
October 2007- Participant at Maker Faire, Austin
1994- BFA- University of Houston
1997- MFA- University of Houston
Work History
1997-1999: Photography Instructor- High School for Performing and Visual Arts, Houston, Texas
1998- 2002: Education Associate- Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston, Texas
2004-present: Photography Instructor- Alvin High School, Alvin, Texas
Solo Exhibitions
2023- Fresh Awakening- CityCentre, Houston, Texas
2019- Current Work- Robert-Lawrence Designs, Dallas, Texas
2019- Recent Work- Front Gallery, Houston, Texas
2015- Adolescere- Kaboom Books, Houston, Texas
Selected Group Exhibitions
2023- The Big Show- Lawndale Art Center, Houston, Texas
2022- Vision: Color Photography- Black Box Gallery, Portland, Oregon
2022- Power, Corruption, and Lies- BOX 13 ArtSpace, Houston, Texas
2021- The Big Show- Lawndale Art Center, Houston, Texas
2020- Testing, Probando- BOX 13 ArtSpace, Houston, Texas
2019- 2019 Center Annual- Houston Center for Photography, Houston, Texas
2018- Furtherance- BOX 13 ArtSpace, Houston, Texas
2018- Ratio Redux- Hardy & Nance Studios, Houston, Texas
2017- Boxing the Storm- 500X Gallery, Dallas, Texas
2017- Gulf Currents- TEN Gallery, New Orleans, Louisiana
2017- Learning Curve- Houston Center for Photography, Houston, Texas
2017- The Big Show- Lawndale Art Center, Houston, Texas
2015- Best in Show- BOX 13 ArtSpace, Houston, Texas
2013- Mentor Show- Alvin Community College, Alvin, Texas
2012- Monster Show- Domy Books, Houston, Texas
2011- Mentor Show- Arts Alliance, Clear Lake, Texas
2010- SnackProjects- Lawndale Art Center, Houston, Texas
Related Projects
Fall 2023- Featured photographer in Superpresent magazine
February 2017-2022- Resident artist at BOX 13 Artspace
December 2016- Winner of annual Faces competition in PDN Magazine
April 2016- Featured photographer in Violet Book
October 2011- Featured project on apartmenttherapy.com
September 2011- Featured project in Mine Magazine
July 2011- Featured photographer on craftzine.com
April 2011- Featured project on lifehacker.com
April 2010- Guest appearance on the Martha Stewart Show
October 2009- Featured project on apartmenttherapy.com
February 2009- Featured project on apartmentherapy.com
April 2009- Featured project on designsponge.com
October 2008- Participant at Maker Faire, Austin
October 2007- Participant at Maker Faire, Austin
