Nobody mastered still life so well as the Dutch artists. Remember those opulent painting of food and kitchen splendour of the 17th century? Now, the situation looks slightly more… minimal. Arnout van Albada, currently based in Groningen, creates mesmerising artworks in egg tempera and oil paint which truly fit into sumptuous still life art. But rather than placing lobsters and other luxury food products, Arnout presents Coppa di Parma ham, Jell-O Grape jelly, laurier herb, Parmigiano cheese, rhubarb and many other daily-life, usual routine dishes in pretty modest, pastel-coloured backrounds. "The choice of my subjects is entirely determined by what I find beautiful and attractive – I look for subtle contrasts in textures, colours or shapes," van Albada says. And what does he hope to achieve in his work? "In the end, I try to catch the elusiveness of an object when isolated from its context to create a timeless and magical image," I must admit, at the first sight I thought these are all photographs – the paintings look so realistic and natural! Or maybe I feel hungry now…
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