Lancaster Museum of Art ::::: Schedule

Zeuxis is an association of still life painters from all over the United States. Established in 1995, the group is named after Zeuxis, a 5th century BC Greek painter. Pliny the Elder, who died during the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD, recounts in his Natural History the famous artistic contest in which Zeuxis painted some grapes so realistically that birds flew into the room and tried to eat the fruit.

The Common Object is an exhibition of still life paintings by the 22 members of Zeuxis and several invited artists. Each painter in the show has been asked to incorporate an ordinary dishtowel into his or her work. The artists' approaches to this humble tool of daily life demonstrate the many ways in which still life painters can, in the words of Pottstown-native John Updike, "give the mundane its beautiful due."

The paintings in The Common Object come out of a long tradition of still life painting, and at the same time address the current moment, when economic anxiety may produce a new appreciation of the basics. The dishtowel might be treated as an inanimate object-for its drapery folds, its pattern or use as a backdrop-or it might be examined for its versatility and usefulness. Still life is the art of noticing how the world looks, and The Common Object celebrates the wonders of the quotidian, through the resourceful, open-minded perspectives of contemporary American artists.