Cole Sternberg: I was here for just a moment
March 18 – April 09, 2011
Opening Reception: Friday, March 18, 7-10pm
Artist in Attendance
Free and open to the public
DENVER – The David B. Smith Gallery is very pleased to be bringing Cole Sternberg and his unique sociopolitical art to Denver. Please join us for the exciting opening of this new exhibition, I was here for just a moment, on Friday, March 18th from 7-10pm.
Each of Sternbergʼs works is an explosion of layered text, heavy painterly washes and strong, gestural brushstrokes. Working with oils, watercolors and spray paint, his works have an organized chaos that is both compelling and appealing. Within each piece, is an underlying statement on human rights, ecology, personal relationships or other subjects of emotional relevance....
The Swedish fine artist, illustrator, and mural artist, Ekta, was interviewed by Juxtapoz magazine. Among other things, he talks about his background, his discovery of art, his name, his works, and why he doesn't do outside work at the moment. It's a great interview!
Tell me a little bit about yourself and how you got started? I was born in 1978 in a small coastal town in the south of Sweden. When I was 18 I moved to London with my best friend to skate and ended up staying there for 9 years. Art came through skateboarding and somewhere around the millennium painting and drawing became more important to me than skating. Some early influences in art were people like Mark Gonzales and Neil Blender. In 2005 my personal life was not so good and not having money to pay the expensive London bills, I decided to try my luck back in Sweden and moved to Gothenburg, where I’ve been since....
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'A' is an exhibition of future perspectives... The future perspectives of two very different artists who have shared ideas, time and concrete. The title 'A' is as much about a new beginning as it is a reference to the Avant garde or Abstraction of their Alternative works. The Alphabet was the starting point for both these artist's careers and the fact they have now develo...ped those classic icons and forms into heavily abstracted formations and broken landscapes, reiterates a new beginning. Remi/Rough and Steve More share a tradition of steering against the mainstream to produce work that is both culturally relevant and unique in its vision. For ‘A’ the artists explore the correlations between their work after seven years of development apart. Steve has recently returned to the UK after being based in New Zealand and Remi’s last major show was in London two years ago. Since then he has travelled extensively cementing his reputation both abroad and at home in London. The artists first met in the early 90’s and worked closely over the following ten years, playing a progressive role in the international graffiti art scene. Their focus on self expression and originality whilst working in the urban vernacular has had a lasting influence on their works, and each other. Since they parted ways in 2003 their work diverged but some similarities remain highly evident. Remi’s recent work is an evolution of the letterform from his early graffiti pieces. Lines, shapes and form are dramatically skewed to create a perspective suggesting they occupy a 3D environment. His work is as much about the negative space he creates as it is the positive space he uses. The vibrant compositions and textures evoke graffiti from an imagined futuristic society. Steve More’s work has a tactile quality that is derived from the surfaces in his environment. Found and discarded materials are assimilated into pixels, questioning how the computer age affects our perceptions of time and place. His work is meticulously crafted using the forming and subsequent erosion of materials as an important part of the process. In contrast, Remi’s work is less premeditated and more concerned with immediacy of the moment. The title for the show ‘A’ holds a significant meaning for both artists: It symbolises new beginnings and heralds a coming of age. It also gives a nod to their past muse: Letter form (A being the first letter of the alphabet). It also bears light on the ‘Abstract’ world in which they convey their ‘Art’, and their ‘Avant garde’ attitude with which they produce it. As well as producing individual work Remi/Rough and Steve More are members of the influential art collective - Agents of Change.