Embracing Tension: New Paintings by Steven Perkins, Aug 18 thru Oct 2
In his 9th solo exhibition, Steven Perkins’ newest paintings reveal the drama of the vigorous natural world in conflict with human design and control. Through the lens of realism, Perkins focuses on subjects that might not normally be venerated, seeking to arrest the revelation of meaning in ordinary life.
Among a generation of abstract and conceptual painters, Perkins has pursued the landscape, primarily of Maine and the American northeast, as his signature subject. Deeply influenced by the Hudson River school of painters, such as Bierstadt and Church, Perkins rejects the implicit grandeur of their work, embracing pure realism, a discipline that strives to reveal meaning without mythologizing.
Unlike the 20th-century photography movement (championed by Lewis Baltz) of a ‘counter-aesthetic,’ which likewise informs Perkins’ painting, Perkins stops short of portraying the painful, from which most of us instinctively look away, in order to make a political point; his interest in beauty lies in creating what actor Sean Penn characterizes as “poetry we can touch.”
Born in Buffalo, New York in 1960, Steven Perkins currently lives and works in mid-coast Maine. Recent exhibitions include the Portland, Maine Museum of Art 2009 Biennial and a 2008 group show at The Chocolate Church Art Center in Bath, Maine. Perkins’ paintings are in private and corporate American collections, and are part of the permanent collection at the State University of New York at Albany.
Steven Perkins’ exhibition will open on Wednesday, August 18, with a reception for the artist on Saturday, August 21 from 4 - 6 pm, and will remain on view through October 2. You may also visit the artist's website at www.stevenperkinspaintings.com
