Still Life with a Book 1988

Petros Malayan made this still life with a book in oil paint, and he really went to town with the textures and patterns. It’s like he’s saying, “Let’s see how many different surfaces we can get into one painting!” Look at the way he’s built up the paint on the metal jug. It’s not just silver; there are blues and greens swirling around in there. The brushwork is so present, you can almost feel him pushing and pulling the paint around, trying to catch the light. Then there are all of these different fabrics and patterns! It looks like he was thinking about Matisse. The little book in the foreground is my favourite part. It's like the artist saying that still life is not silent, nor still, but full of texture, pattern, colour, and life.