Still Life art is a captivating genre that invites viewers to appreciate the beauty and significance of ordinary objects carefully arranged and captured in a static composition. Stillness in Motion is an exhibition that seeks to showcase the beauty, diversity, and complexity of still life art throughout history to modern day representation. This show allows artists to speak through inanimate objects using their specific style and choice of symbolism. This act of artistic creation invites viewers to appreciate the quiet beauty of everyday objects and the stories they tell, providing a space for introspection, contemplation, and connection. 

The relationship we hold with our everyday devices hold a multitude of layers. Our inanimate objects hold memories, experiences, and emotions. A still life can stand in the simplest form of celebrating our everyday material goods. A still life can also tell a story of a timeless testament to our shared or personal experiences as mortal beings. Our lives are fast paced and constantly in motion, and at times hard to conceptualize. When we allow ourselves to take a moment and experience hush, we may find it easier to process life as we know it. Stillness in Motion is intended to evoke that same feeling, transforming our perception of the world around us.

Stillness in Motion will give the spotlight to artists from the greater Cincinnati, Ohio region. The goal of the pieces showcased in this exhibition is to reflect timeless aspects of everyday life. Each work carries a unique message intended to evoke familiar and/or new emotions and memories. With every wall of this exhibition offering up classic and modern still-life art, it will be easy for patrons to find something new that will leave them feeling inspired.

This Fall, 1628 is proud to give a spotlight to 21 talented artists from the Cincinnati, Dayton, and Northern Kentucky area in our exhibition, Stillness in Motion: Still Life Art and its Reflection on Human Existence. This show features artists including Todd Reynolds, Ethan Humrichouser, Richard Luschek, and Addie Eichbauer. 

Todd Reynolds was born in Cincinnati Ohio, in 1961 and has lived in southern Ohio all his life. He began formal art training at seventeen in 1979 at Ohio University, majoring in graphic design, illustration and painting. He is a recipient of three Ohio Arts Council Fellowship awards, one in drawing and two in painting. In 2013 he had a one-person show at the Weston Gallery in Cincinnati, Ohio, where his exhibit “Utopia” illustrated his large, complex oil paintings with allegorical themes on current subjects; this exhibit also showcased Todd’s large watercolors and his range of mediums. A year later, his work “Two Girls on Couch” was displayed in the Manifest Gallery in Cincinnati as part of a teacher-student group exhibit. The international Erotic Exhibit held in Columbus, Ohio, in the past few years presented several of his more sexually-oriented pieces of art.

Todd has been a part-time art instructor at several universities in Ohio, including Shawnee State and Ohio University. Currently, he is committing most of his time to painting and drawing. Those who have influenced his art include Goya, Degas, Rembrandt, Andrew Wyeth and Lucian Freud. Utilizing glazing techniques and layering thick paint are characteristics of his style, and he favors figurative painting. He works with a combination of live models, props, colored lights and photography. His subjects usually involve personal narratives and portraits of close relatives and other artists. He is currently working on a series titled “The River” which illustrates the surrealistic life of people living near the Ohio River. Todd’s preferred mediums are oil painting, watercolor, and toned paper with Prismacolor pencil. His artist tools range from the traditional palette knife and brush to printmaking rollers and squeegees as well as simple blending by finger. The artist currently resides in a country setting in Lucasville, Ohio. 

Ethan Humrichouser is a 2D multidisciplinary artist who explores themes of psychology and morality through the physicality of subjects and their environments. Shedding skin, microscopic imagery, and physical injury have all been used to explore broader philosophical dilemmas. Ethan often uses both constructive and destructive process in his paintings and digital work to bring conflict to the forefront of his images. High amounts of texture and contrast are also used to create a uniquely potent visual experience. Ethan continues his pursuit to create an abrasive yet beautiful body of work that challenges its audience to engage in honest introspection and philosophical thought.

“Corneal Abrasion and Fatalistic Fantasy are two still life projects which approach objects and their relationship to space from a physical and psychological perspective. Lighting, framing, materiality, and perspective are all utilized to enhance the symbology and connotations carried with specific objects. This is done to make viewers interact with objects in a non-objective manner. Visual texture and lighting are also used to make images that carry a visual tactility. Allowing the audience to imagine the feeling of the environments crafted by the objects and their spaces.”

After graduating from the University of Cincinnati with Bachelor’s degrees in Biology and Fine Arts, Richard Luschek was fortunate enough to study at the Paul Ingbretson Studio of Drawing and Painting located in New Hampshire. Now Richard drinks lots of coffee and paints in his beautiful north-lit studio in Eden Park working on still lifes, landscapes and portraits. He also is an illustrator for various role-playing games.

“Fascinated with creating atmospheric scenes through thoughtful paint handling. As a storyteller I like to create scenes with mood and feeling often using multiple panels to create a relationship not just with the viewer but between the panels. My current series deals with large still life scenes representing children at play or in the act of creation.”

Addie Eichbauer is a photographer based in Cincinnati, Ohio. She is a recent graduate of The University of Cincinnati with a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree, with a focus in photography and video. Eichbauer uses photography to explore the duality between love and aggression, specifically examining hyper sexualization, harassment, misogyny, and objectification towards women. Her photography practice often includes journaling and poetry as a way to reflect and cope with themes present in her work.

“This photograph is part of a series titled What I Thought Was Mine, this series explores the relationship between love and aggression and how they’re often confused for one another. Creating images that explore my internal and external struggles with womanhood. I use photography to face these emotions by turning the male gaze onto itself and exposing the viewer to the exhausting weight of the male narrative. I explore the duality of monster and victim. If I give the objectifier the power of being the monster, do I become the victim? With this in mind, I juxtapose things that are sinister and unthreatening, taking symbols of assumed masculinity and contorting them into something uncanny and horrifying. I am still left questioning how to cope with the burdens of womanhood, navigating the uncomfortable gazes, catcalls, violating touches, judgments, and whispers. I hope for my viewer to question why love and aggression are so often confused with one another. Are we all okay with normalized fear?”

The Fall 2023 Exhibition will be on display August 28th – November 16th, 2023.

Multiple pieces in this exhibition are for sale. If you are interested in purchasing any artwork from the show, please contact us at art@1628ltd.com.