You know the old wives’ tale: oysters are an aphrodisiac. How many single guys have taken a gal out for beer & oysters hoping to make a lil magic happen? If it’s sensual magic you’re hunting, look no further than the work of New Orleans artist Carlos Lopez. His elegant, nearly surreal still lifes of oysters will make your mouth water and pulse quicken before you ever bite into the real thing.
For a New Orleans native, oysters, so abundant in the area seem a natural still life subject, yet there is nothing prosaic about Lopez’s treatment of the common bivalve. These works carry the sensuality of Georgia O’Keeffe, the smooth surrealism of Dali, yet glow with the light and crispness of classical still lifes.
These mollusks seem to take on a life of their own, the work is so full of emotional charge, we can feel the sadness, the joy, the hope or shame the oyster seems to be feeling. Or perhaps we are seeing our own reflection in the pearly surface of its shell.
To see more of Carlos Lopez’s work, please visit the website of his representing gallery, Gallery Orange in New Orleans.
All images via Gallery Orange.
