On April 23, the Academy Art Museum in Easton, MD will open the first solo musum exhibition of the photography of Paulette Tavormina. The exhibition, Paulette Tavormina: Seizing Beauty, will feature Tavormina’s photographs of still life arrangements which often recall the sumptuous detail of seventeenth century Old Master still life painters reminiscent of Francisco de Zurbarán, Adriaen Coorte, and Giovanna Garzoni. Her meticulously orchestrated and lit photographs are boldly contemporary in their precision, capturing delphiniums, roses, lemons, figs, beetles, and porcelain bowls. Tavormina invites the viewer to reflect on the ephemerality of existence adn love, and on the importance of savoring both at every moment.
Tavormina’s photographs are in museums, corporate, and private collections around the globe. She also photographs works of art for Sotheby’s, has collaborated with The Fabulous Beekman Boys on three cookbooks, and takes commissions from “The New York Times” and “National Geographic” magazine, among others. Tavormina has also been a prop and food stylist for major Hollywood films, working on movies such as “The Perfect Storm,” “Nixon,” and “The Astronaut’s Wife.”
Her first monograph, “Paulette Tavormina: Seizing Beauty” (The Monacelli Press, New York, 2016), will be released in April 2016. The book includes essays be art and photography scholars Silvia Malaguzzi, Mark Alice Durant, and Academy Art Museum’s Senior Curator Anke Van Wagenberg delving into the seventeenth and eighteenth-century sources of Tavormina’s inspiration, her stance on art photography, and how teh conventions of yesterday’s paintings can transform to make visually stunning photographic art for today.
This exhibition is sponsored by the Talbot County Arts Council, the Maryland State Arts Council, and Chesapeake Publishing. The exhibition will be on display through July 10, 2016 at the Academy Art Museum. Curator-Led Tours will be held on Wednesday, May 4 at 12 noon and Wednesday, June 15 at 12 noon. For further information visit academyartmuseum.org or call 410-822-2787.
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