Victoria Reynolds
"Ruban Rouge", 2007
Oil on panel
Gift of the Las Vegas Art Museum, 2021; Gift of Roger Thomas and Arthur Libera, 2007.
2021.08.132

Victoria Reynolds creates opulent depictions of raw meat. Her work not only alludes to the Western art canon’s rich history of still life painting, with its abundance of food exposed to our gaze, it also invites comparison to another painting tradition—the human nude. Nudes, like her meat, are often arranged seductively. Usually we are expected to separate the two categories: one is food, one is not. Reynolds works to bring them together, underlining her intentions by using a canvas about the size of a human face and placing it inside a pretty frame as if it is a portrait. By putting comprehensible messages together in unfamiliar ways, she invites us to blur the distinctions we draw between different types of flesh. (DKS)

To watch our Virtual Tour of this piece, please click on the following link: Barrick Museum of Art Virtual Tour - Victoria Reynolds.

Item Description:
An oval-shaped oil painting of raw, marbled meat surrounded by an ornate white frame with decorative scrolls.