Strawberry Tart Supreme

Photorealism originated in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a backlash against gestural abstraction, with artists depicting ordinary, often overlooked subjects, sometimes on a grandiose scale. Audrey Flack's Strawberry Tart Supreme is one such work; it was created with an airbrush, using a projection of a color transparency on the canvas as a guide. Here, the artist's technical virtuosity, attention to detail, and precision combine with an interest in the ordinary to create a monumental view of a mirrored surface covered with desserts. The strawberry tart at the center-its gelatinous glaze dripping over its aluminum-foil base-shares the spotlight with cupcakes, a chocolate roll, a lemon meringue, and other brightly colored pastries, the whole enclosed in a plain gray border. The contrasts of the sheen of luminous glazes and frostings, the gooeyness of their textures, and the stark, flat, reflective mirror are as visually enticing as the desserts on display.