Marian Drew: &quot; Still Life &quot;

This body of work variously titled Still Life, Still Lives, Australiana, Every Living Thing and All that remains explores the genre of the European 'Still Life' painting as translated into the context of Australia and contemporary art practice. This work questions colonial cultural heritage and the philosophical discourses that frame human relationships to animal and to wildlife in particular. The long lens of the "wild life photographer" is replaced by the close up lens, painted light and the table top.

Marian Drew is Associate Professor in Photography at the Queensland College of Art, Griffith University. Her work is held in numerous public and private collections including the Getty Museum and the National Gallery of Australia. She has held 25 solo exhibitions in Australia, the United States, France and Germany. Drew represented Australia in the First Asia Pacific Triennial in 1992.

Marian Drew uses road kill animals in her work and states: "With this work I aim to bring an actual and specific death to our attention and to acknowledge this animal's close link to the sustainment of our lives."

" Still Life" hopes to draw attention to the value and beauty of these animals and acknowledge the relationship these animals have to our present lives.

Marian Drew's Still Life series will be on exhibit at the Quai Branly Museum from September 13 to November 11, 2011.

Marsupial with Protea, 2006

@Marian Drew / Dianne Tanzer Gallery