Emily Evelyth at Danese Corey
Recently I saw a review of Emily Eveleth’s paintings in which I was put off by how the writer emphasized the light side of these paintings, the doughnut side as it were. Yes she paints pastries, beautifully, but they are quite serious and pay heed to time tested symbolic subject matter in the history of art.
And indeed they are sensually painted so that the elements of the senses are aroused and tempted. It was Eduard Manet who in the late 19th century called attention to the connection between the senses and painting. Specifically he referred to rhe relationship between the palette of paint and the palette of taste and his still life's reflected this as in his painting of a brioche, his version of the jelly doughnut.
Note the backgrounds of both the Eveleth and the Manet. They are abstract and follow the tradition of the “studio portrait”. Originally used for portraits in the Baroque, both Manet and Evelyth us the devise to imply the human presence. In fact in the past, she has painted figures (portraits) where the figures seem almost interchangeable with the doughnuts, the figure and the doughnut dispersed similarly in their space.
But there are even deeper layers in the meaning of the doughnuts. Color is used symbolically, especially those used to make up the jellies.
The red is like blood and the cream like viscous. Motherwell talked about the symbolic quality of red and its relationship to blood and wine. You can almost imagine the puncture wounds, and the scarred face. Reminds me of the painting of Jenny Sayville.
Yet these are after all stillife paintings. The way that the doughnut hangs over the table edge has its roots in 17th century Dutch painting where the artists regularly challenged the boundaries of the space.
The exotic scene reminds us both of the pleasures and precariousness of life, just like the red and the cream in the Eveleth.
Finally, just a word about the miraculous light. Once again Eveleth’s source is the Baroque. More than chiaroscuro, they are tenebroso with the doughnuts emerging from the deep, dark backgrounds. Think of the way the figure emerges in a late Rembrandt with the golden light illuminating the figure. But then again, sometimes a jelly doughnut is just that.
