John O'Reilly: Still Life
John O’Reilly’s new photo montages are little Wonderland worlds unto themselves. Their extreme horizontal format creates the sense of a journey, from the familiar and safe to the chaotic and mysterious. Many images come from O’Reilly’s home and neighborhood. These are inter- mingled with children’s building blocks that transition into Greek ruins, and then out into wild woods. Musical references and the passage of time are persistent themes.
O’Reilly constructs each unique piece out of fragments of black and white Polaroid photographs he takes of his surroundings, of tableaus he creates in his studio, and of pictures from books and magazines. While the title “Still Life” seems to contradict the sense of movement and progression in the work, these are metaphorical “snapshots” of a life lived, and meditations on its final resting point.
