"Still Lives" and "Lesson in Red" by Maria Hummel

Writers are often told to write what they know.  It's advice that Maria Hummel has taken to heart.  Hummel's professional background includes a stint as a writer/editor at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles. (Talk about a dream job!) In Still Lives and Lesson in Red, Hummel uses that experience to craft thrillers set in the contemporary art world. The fictitious artwork in both novels highlights the issue of violence against women. Our protagonist is Maggie Richter, a young woman who just happens to be an editor for the fictitious Rocque Museum in LA.  

In Still Lives, the Museum is gearing up for an explosive exhibit of paintings in which artist Kim Lord impersonates female murder victims. (Think Cindy Sherman in gruesome settings.) The victims depicted include Nicole Brown Simpson, Chandra Levy and the Black Dahlia. A reference to Kitty Genovese brought me right back to law school and the debate about whether bystanders have an obligation to contact the police when they witness a crime. The plot thickens when Kim Lord doesn't show up for opening night. Is it a publicity stunt or has she gone missing? 

I'll admit that I love a good thriller -- and Still Lives has lots of twists and turns. But I also really enjoyed the art angle. Take, for instance, the tidbit that Lord planned to donate the Still Lives paintings to the Museum. As the faux press release explained, the exhibit was "an indictment of America's obsession with sensationalized female murders." (It's hard not to think of the media's fascination with Gabby Petito as I write those words.)  As such, the artist said she didn't want to profit from these works. A skeptic might point out that a high profile exhibit such as the one in the novel would likely elevate the artist's celebrity and thus enhance the value of her future work. 

Then there was the description of the preparation involved in the creation of the series. After doing substantial research about the women and their murders, Lord took pictures of herself as the victims. Once the paintings were done, she destroyed the photographs. Negatives were burned; digital images were put on a flash drive and smashed with a hammer. To the artist, this last step was a crucial part of the process. "I don't want that record to exist," she said. "It links the work to me, and I am not painting myself." And yet, these are self-portraits. How can her identity not be part of the artistic equation? I love thinking about questions like this. 

In Lesson in Red, the same cast of characters is back. This time, they are investigating the suicide of a young art student. The woman worked in video, and the descriptions of her work continue to haunt me. This from a woman who really doesn't "get" video art. 

In "Packing," the budding artist carried a loaded gun with her for 24 hours. The mere concept is a troubling commentary on both gun violence and the sense of vulnerability women feel. But here's what made it haunting -- she used the gun for everyday tasks. "The video opened on a woman at a breakfast eating cereal with the barrel of her gun... [She] held the handle, dipped the gun's tip into the flakes and milk, lifted them, slopping and dripping. She sucked the tip with her lips. Then over again. The gun in her fist, her jaw grinding. Milk dribbled down her chin, white and glistening." The video progresses from there and included a scene in which her toothbrush was stuck in the barrel during her evening ablutions. Loaded or not, I can't get these images out of my mind -- even though this video project doesn't actually exist. The description of another video of what might or might not have been a sexual assault is even more disturbing. I do wonder where Hummel got the ideas for the art in her books. 

Lesson in Red wanders a bit more than Still Lives, but there are a lot more works of (faux, I keep reminding myself) art to consider. When our protagonist Maggie goes undercover as a gallerina (new word!), the gallery is gearing up for an exhibit of a work entitled "Shoe Cathedral." I'm sure you can envision the concept (and perhaps join me in rolling your eyes). What was interesting to me was the discussion about the artist conceptualizing the work and using others to actually create the installation. Yes, artists' use of others to assist in bringing their vision to fruition is a tradition dating back to the Renaissance. But artists like Jeff Koons now have large staffs of studio assistants -- 150 at the last count -- who bring their ideas to life. I kind of get it, but I somehow suspect those assistants aren't being compensated in proportion to the prices at which Koons' work sells. But I digress -- or do I, since this is one of the issues Lessons in Red made me consider. 

Maria Hummel 

Having grown up reading thrillers, Still Lives and Lesson in Red were custom-made for me. And I get that thrillers aren't everyone's genre. But I'll note that Reese Witherspoon chose Still Lives for her Book Club x Hello Sunshine Selection. It was also a Book of the Month selection and an Amazon Best Mystery/Thriller of the Year (whatever that means). So if you're even mildly interested, I'd encourage you to check these books out. Note that Lessons in Red has lots of references to events that happened in Still Lives, so it's preferable to start with that one. 

For an interesting interview with Hummel about her books, click here. And for Hummel's website, click here. 

Happy reading!