Maxwell Stevens
MAXWELL STEVENS is an American artist born in 1971 who lives and works in New York City. He received an MFA in Painting from the School of Art at Washington University in St. Louis in 1995, and a BFA in Painting from The Atlanta College of Art (now SCAD Atlanta) in 1993. He is best known for his multi layered paintings and drawings that overlay photorealistic images with vivid, energised abstractions.
Shortly after moving to New York City, after many years of working exclusively in non- representational abstraction, Maxwell Stevens embarked on a significant stylistic shift in his approach to his art. He began composing his canvases with recognizable imagery, incorporating photorealist figures and lifelike scenes into his works, and then abruptly superposing these paintings directly with tumultuous abstractions. This new period is clearly identifiable by large abstract painted gestures superimposed directly on top of photorealist paintings that have become increasingly descriptive, with each series correlating the seasons, Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter, around a deeply personal and often autobiographical theme. He has most recently expanded these images into a vibrant series of prints, a series which curator Beatrice Cordaro has described as an innovative synthesis of the abstract and figurative elements of the paintings distilled into compositions of vibrant-colored discs. Acutely referencing pointillism, she notes “The true essence of the work is best appreciated when viewed from a distance, revealing an illusionistic effect that further demonstrates Maxwell’s versatility and artistic prowess.” The possibilities with his newly invented approach has allowed him to introduce a wide variety of content and narrative situations into what at first glance often appears as a purely abstract picture, opening up to new subject matter while raising important questions about the very nature of representation, perception, and pattern recognition, constantly questioning and pushing the limits of form.
Maxwell Stevens has exhibited extensively and internationally in contemporary venues from Tokyo to Paris to New York, alongside major artists such as Cy Twombly, Joseph Beuys, and Dorothea Rockburne. Recent exhibitions include Haze, Galleria Tilde, Palermo, Italy, (de)construct, Galleria Tilde, Palermo, Italy, He Said, She Said, Amos Eno Gallery, New York, NY, In The Emancipation of Self, D Contemporary, London, United Kingdom, Last Days of Summer, Galerie Bruno Massa, Paris, France, Trait d’Union, Galerie Bruno Massa, Paris, France, Marbella Design & Art, Marbella, Spain, (un)fair Milan, Milan, Italy, Visions, Monat Gallery, Madrid, Spain, Horizon, Monat Gallery, Madrid, Spain, The Seasons, Van Der Plas Gallery, New York, NY, Last Days of Summer, Onetwentyeight, New York, NY, 8 X 12, Floor_, Seoul, South Korea, and Tilted Visions, VillageOneArt, New York, NY. His paintings and projects have been featured in numerous publications including Art in America, Art News USA, Aatonau Magazine, Contemporary Art Explore, Cultbytes, Fine Art Connoisseur, NY Arts Magazine, Meer Magazine, The Museum of Modern Art Contemporary Drawing and Print Associates Bulletin, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and Art Papers, among many others.
