Clock, Outlet and Painting on Wall, 2011

The essence of time, the ideas of interpretation and the beautiful simplicity of a still life. These are the concepts behind Studio Physics, a series by gallery artist John Chervinsky. These colorful elegant works reflect a formalistic approach and the nature of still life images, with the element of time, decay and change. I love John’s wit and wisdom. I enjoy his engaging nature of exploring the ideas behind time and space, of decay and change.

Balloon, Rock on Table with Painting, 2010

About Studio Physics –

I am fascinated by the concept of time. I can measure it, account for it in an experiment in the lab, and
live my life in it, but I still don’t know what it is, exactly.
We are all aware of the great pioneering time and motion studies done by such practitioners as Eadweard
Muybridge, Harold ”Doc” Edgerton and even the experimental work of Berenice Abbott done during the
late 1950s at MIT. That work investigates motion with image capture intervals ranging from 100
nanoseconds (the time of a pulse of a fast strobe) to the several seconds it takes for a horse to trot in
front of a reference grid. In fact, most contemporary photographers work somewhere within that range.
What would happen then, if we decided to work outside of that range? What would happen if we picked
an image capture interval not of seconds, but of weeks?

Apple, Paintings on Door, 2011

This conceptual work in progress will investigate the physical phenomena of still and moving objects in
space over time.

Coffee Cups and Painting on Door, 2011

My process is as follows:
1) Compose and photograph a still life.
2) Crop a subset of the image and send it to a painting factory in China.
3) Wait for an anonymous artist to complete an actual oil painting of the cropped section, and send it
to me in the mail.
4) Reinsert the painting into the original setup and re-photograph.
As with previous work, I’m interested in issues relating to perspective. I’m interested in the tensions
expressed in the comparison between reality vs. representation. I’m interested in what happens when I
collaborate with another artist that has no idea that they are involved in a collaboration, and I’m interested
in seeing and expressing subtle changes overtime that we might otherwise take for granted.

Banana in Bowl with Painting on Door, 2012

John Chervinsky’s Studio Physics images are available in an edition of 15 in a size of 24×30.

Prices start at $2,400.

To see a larger portfolio of works, or for more information, please contact the gallery.