Middle Gate

In the mid-1970s Lili Dujourie made the series of collages Still Life, to which these four works belong, the same period when she was making her video works. This work may be seen as between her early, minimalist-conceptual period and her later, more theatrical period. This transition is evident throughout Still Life: the compositions are intentionally minimalistic, but the creases, tears and overlaps also suggest a drama that makes us think of her later velvet sculptures. The collages are largely made of colored paper without further figurative elements, bonded to a white-paper background. As so often in her oeuvre, Dujourie’s use of the title Still Life is a reference to traditions from the history of art. Visually speaking, however, these abstract collages have little to do with the classical, figurative still life: they do not depict anything and display nothing other than their own forms. And still, the texture of the torn edges, the overlaps and use-of-color lend an impression of three-dimensionality, almost as in a painting. Moreover, just like the painters of still lifes, Dujourie shows much regard for texture, composition and material. In this way she joins a centuries-old tradition, albeit in her own particular manner.