Nature morte à l'estampe (Still Life with Print) 1962

Mario Avati made this print, of what I think are a vase and a couple of shells, in black and white, at some point in the 20th Century. It's like he’s trapped the objects in the stillness of the composition, forcing us to really look at them, but also like they could break free and start moving at any moment. The shells look like little tornadoes ready to set sail. I wonder what it was like for Avati to create this still life? To get this intense focus, maybe he shut himself away from everything else? You know, sometimes the quietest moments can be the loudest, and the most revealing, offering us a fresh view on the world. Think of Giorgio Morandi dedicating his whole practice to bottles. The print invites us to think of painting itself as a process of inquiry, where artists engage in a back-and-forth with their materials, uncovering new ways of seeing and experiencing the world.