Onions and Pineapples 

Gandy Brodie's 'Onions and Pineapples' presents us with a seemingly simple still life, yet its arrangement and execution reveal deeper cultural currents. The pineapple, once a symbol of luxury and welcome, sits alongside the humble onion, a staple with ancient roots. Consider the pineapple, a motif that appears in Dutch Golden Age paintings, signaling wealth and exotic trade. Its presence speaks to a desire for the new and the far-off. Now, juxtapose this with the onion, an emblem of sustenance, tied to the earth, and reminiscent of vanitas paintings that remind us of life's transience. In antiquity, the onion was revered in Egypt, offered to the gods, and even found in burial sites. Brodie presents them together, creating a visual dialogue between opulence and necessity. The crude brushwork evokes a sense of immediacy, tapping into the primal emotions that these objects evoke. The arrangement is not merely decorative; it is a conversation between our aspirations and our mortal realities, constantly evolving through time.