Thirteen 2006

Curator: Here we have Gillian Carnegie’s “Thirteen,” a still life in oil, residing here at the Tate. Editor: It's… muted. The palette feels almost sepia, imparting a sense of faded memory or perhaps melancholy. Curator: Carnegie often subverts traditional genres. This challenges the conventional floral still life, doesn't it? The flowers appear past their prime. Editor: Exactly. Cut flowers often symbolize transience and mortality, but here, it’s amplified by the almost ghostly rendering. The thirteen blooms might be linked to superstitions surrounding bad luck. Curator: I'd argue Carnegie's choice of such a traditional subject allows her to comment on the role of painting itself. It reflects the cultural and societal perceptions of femininity historically linked to such imagery. Editor: I see that. It’s almost as if she's presenting us with a memento mori, a meditation on life and decay, coded in the symbols of a past aesthetic. Curator: Ultimately, the work offers a complex commentary on art history, tradition, and even societal expectation. Editor: Yes, leaving us to contemplate the enduring power of symbols and their inevitable shift in meaning.