February 21 – May 31, 2026
ArtYard
Frenchtown, New Jersey
A pear. A bowl. A bowl of pears. Zinnias in a vase. A cake stand and patterned cloth. Half a grapefruit, a knife’s edge. Postcards, shells, bottles, jars, cups, figurines, spoons, cabbage, candles, books, bread, a crumpled leaf, a pair of dice, kitchen scraps, a skull.
This exhibition, curated for ArtYard in Frenchtown, New Jersey, explores the complex and enduring relationship between humans and objects through still-life paintings, prints, drawings, collage, sculpture, ceramics, photography, and found objects. Capturing the ordinary and extraordinary, in turns eternal and ephemeral, still lifes tell our stories by proxy, becoming vessels for presence and time. Work from the 1800’s to the present day by 40 artists from 10 countries is displayed in a series of distinct rooms inspired by homes, studios, and architectural spaces encountered and imagined by the curators. Visitors are welcomed into a space inspired by the specificity and intimacy of still life.
In the Company of Still Life is a Kings Oaks project, curated by co-directors Alex Cohen and Clara Weishahn.
Visit ArtYard’s website.
Poster artwork above by Gwen Strahle, Chosen Object (detail), Oil on canvas, 2022
Installation images by Paul Warchol, courtesy of ArtYard
Exhibiting Artists: Rotem Amizur, Lennart Anderson, James Bellew, Silas Borsos, Stepan Budulak, Mariel Capanna, Alex Cohen, François Dupuis, Elizabeth Endres, David Fertig, Edward Gorey, Brian Guerin, Johnny Izatt-Lowry, Dee Jenkins, Graesen Joyce, Clara Kewley, Ken Kewley, Robert M. Kulicke, Aubrey Levinthal, Susan Lichtman, David MacDonald, Alisa Maslova, Ruth Miller, Katja Oxman, Margaret Parish, Gillian Pederson-Krag, John F. Peto, Joseph Podlesnik, Charles Ethan Porter, Kate Powell, Gabriele Risso, E.M. Saniga, Mayumi Sarai, Kouta Sasai, James Stewart, Gwen Strahle, Rudolf Stumpf, Ali Sultan, Susan Jane Walp, Allie Webb. Learn more.
View the press release
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Trailer by Four/Ten Media
“One of the enduring attributes of the still life is how formally flexible is its otherwise staid historical genre. Examples of such plasticity are made evident by the large roster of artists in this exhibition coming at the historical form with wildly different approaches that revitalize the genre.”
-Tom McGlynn on In the Company of Still Life, Brooklyn Rail
Courtesy of ArtYard, Photo by © Miana Jun
“An hour In The Company of Still Life absorbed in history’s most modest art form is a balm for turmoil inside and out. Letting oneself wander and get lost and overwhelmed is what keeps us coming back.”
-Elizabeth Johnson on In the Company of still Life for the Roborant Review
Installation images by Paul Warchol, courtesy of ArtYard.