Audrey Flack’s lush textures and densely packed compositions of meticulously rendered objects serve as modern versions of the work of the seventeenth-century Dutch still life painters. Frequently, she employs the symbolism of vanitas (a still life that alludes to the vanity of worldly pleasures and to life’s transient nature) but infuses it with contemporary context. Flack is a pioneer in the genre of Photorealism and best known for her depictions of indulgence, excess, and beauty that are at the same time poignant symbols of desire, passion, and life’s journeys. Banana Split Sundae is a print based on an airbrushed painting of the same name that Flack made in 1974. Its decadent content is evocative of childhood wonder and impulse; yet it is also a reminder of the self-control we are expected to exercise in adulthood.

Label from For the Love of Things: Still Life, February 27–May 29, 2016