In a nod to the still-life painters of the Dutch Golden Age, LGBTQ
artist Andrew Leventis considers the historical and contemporary
significance of vanitas. Inspired by photographs of fridge contents
taken by his friends and colleagues, Leventis’ images are strikingly
familiar. They speak of domesticity, a quiet intimacy that is part of our
everyday lives. Each interior tells a story: packed shelves that betray
a sense of hurried anxiety, surgically clean steel compartments halffilled
with raw meat, or neatly arranged dairy products and
condiments to satisfy an overindulgent palate. Although less explicit,
the core themes of vanitas paintings – the fragility and transience of
life and the hollowness of worldly pleasures – are present. Traditional
symbols of the genre like skulls, extinguished candles, books, and
musical instruments are replaced by sets of whole chickens, a pig
head, a slab of butter, or everyday treats, such as a carton of heavy
cream, a jar of pickles, or beer bottles. Similarly, decadent piles of
objects existing purely for our own entertainment and satisfaction
reflect our futile desire for hedonistic consumption in contemporary
society and a primal need for self-preservation. Leventis began to
work on this series during the Covid pandemic, which forced him to
grapple with the caducity of life. His oeuvre casts a spotlight on our
human shortcomings and fears, but does so with compassion and
understanding, for others as well as himself.