Launch Recite Me assistive technology
A collection of sculptures resembling fruit, made from folded and crumpled paper in shades of red, orange and green. Some are piled inside a teal fabric bag, while others are scattered across a red textured surface.

Daniel Gordon's vibrant assemblages push the still-life genre and photography as we know it

—
Date
12 June 2012

If Daniel Gordon’s current work in the Saatchi Gallery’s exhibition, Out of Focus is anything to go by, we’re supposed to consider these works as photographs and for all intents and purposes they are. But the incredibly involved montage of images within the frame, the unrecognisable surfaces – sometimes with a glitchy trace of their online origins that clashes wonderfully with the sharp relief of a real object – coupled with the use of lighting and props and composition, means they’re more like sculpture, or at the least, 3D collage.

Though predominantly portrait, it’s his occasional still life or flower arrangements that takes the meta-biscuit. They’re less ambiguous and aesthetically more graphic than the head shots; their assemblages show the uncanny flatness of their parts as they are crafted to resemble something a little more literal (but still totally wild) and vibrantly beautiful.

A bouquet of pink, orange and white flowers sits in a cylindrical vase decorated with colourful geometric patterns. Beside the vase, a slice of avocado topped with orange roe rests on a yellow surface.
Above

Daniel Gordon: Anemone Flowers and Avocado

A bunch of peach-coloured gladioli stands in a cylindrical, textured ceramic vase. The vase sits on a table draped with a patterned yellow and green cloth against a red herringbone backdrop.
Above

Daniel Gordon: Gladiolas

A sculpture of a pineapple with a crown of long, sharp spikes. The fruit is painted in iridescent shades of blue and green, sitting on a wooden surface next to a sliced pineapple section.
Above

Daniel Gordon: Pineapple

A bouquet of vibrant red and pink lilies sits in a textured red ceramic vase. The vase rests on a small, roughly painted blue stool alongside a cluster of small red fruits.
Above

Daniel Gordon: Lilies and Clementines

A collection of fruit sculptures made from coloured paper, arranged in a dark grey paper bowl. The apples and pears are rendered in vibrant shades of red, blue, yellow and green.
Above

Daniel Gordon: Pink Ladies and Pears

A paper sculpture of a bouquet of pink, orange and yellow flowers in a vase. The vase is made from folded paper with a black and white patterned print.
Above

Daniel Gordon: Zinnias

Share Article

About the Author

Bryony Quinn

—

Bryony was It’s Nice That’s first ever intern and worked her way up to assistant online editor before moving on to pursue other interests in the summer of 2012.

It's Nice That Newsletters

Fancy a bit of It's Nice That in your inbox? Sign up to our newsletters and we'll keep you in the loop with everything good going on in the creative world.