After Garzoni
May 1 – 31, 2008
Artist Reception: Thursday, May 1, 6 – 8 pm
After Garzoni is a tribute to Giovanna Garzoni (1600-1670), an influential female artist during the Italian Baroque period and one of the first women artists to practice the art of still life painting. Like Garzoni, Vancouver painter Natty Saidi deliberately positions contrasting textures and shapes: ripe pears against a blue-striped cloth, blood-red grapes in a pearlescent colander, and fragrant pomegranates − symbolizing abundance, fertility and good luck − on a rustic plate. Her vibrant paintings display a conscious yet subtle balance between scientific realism and decorative effect.
Paintings of natura sospesa or"nature suspended" were fashionable in 17th Century Italian court life. Garzoni, one of the most important female artists in Italian history, often painted zoological and botanical images for the Medici Court among other influential patrons. With their understated elegance, hers were among the paintings most coveted by wealthy patrons. Saidi’s subject matter is similarly partially drawn and partially painted with a gentle sense of memento mori, the awareness of death in life around us. With their warm Renaissance lighting, they recall memories of the small Israeli farming community in which she grew up, and capture welcome moments of reflection in today’s rapidly changing and fast-paced world.
Natty Saidi was educated at the Avini Institute of Fine Art in Tel Aviv (1975-77). From 1977 to 1979, she worked as a graphic artist in the Israeli Army and she studied for a year (1981-82) at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia. After Garzoni is her fourth solo exhibition at Diane Farris Gallery.
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 Bathed in Sunlight,
2008,
oil on canvas
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