Still Life with Banana, Purse and Change, 2009. © Justine Reyes

The highly symbolic still life paintings associated with Flanders and the Netherlands in the 16th and 17th centuries are the inspiration behind Justine Reyes’s photography in her Vanitas project at The Center for Photography at Woodstock. Historically, “Vanitas” as an art genre utilized morbid images layered with symbolism through objects such as skulls, wilting flowers and rotting fruit—dealing with the awareness of life’s impermanence and the inevitability of death. Personal artifacts and everyday objects help to define Justine Reyes’s photographic interpretation of the genre. Justine Reyes’s Vanitas will be exhibited concurrently from January 9–February 28, 2010, with Landscape Forever curated by Dion Ogust. An artists’ reception for both exhibits will be held on Saturday, January 9th from 5–7pm at The Center for Photography at Woodstock.

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