Steve Sas Schwartz / sAsArT / Contemporary Painting & Sculpture
Steve Sas Schwartz / sAsArT / Contemporary Painting & Sculpture
12 episodes
9 months ago
The Timemarkers are shaped canvas paintings, as they say, although canvas is a stretch applied to these, I did from 1987-1993. They are actually more like relief paintings, or dioramas, but we can get into that later. These pieces were based upon my sense of inherited history, how we stand on the shoulders or are crushed by the feet of what came before us, individually and as a culture. They are industrial landscape-based, and somewhat reflect my view of Manhattan from my DUMBO, BKLYN loft circa 1985, although I would have denied that at the time. They are built out of roofing material I found on my roof and later tracked down the vendor somewhere in Queens, a kind of corrugated aluminum that was really malleable, and a papier-mâché and plaster combo and inks I came up w for the frames which I wanted to resemble old stone, as well as acrylic and patched cotton duck canvas. So they are really tactile, dimensional pieces, as people seemed more fascinated by dioramas than paintings I reasoned.
The frames are based upon Puritan tombstones I was fascinated by at the time, they seemed so relevant to the early - mid 80’s East Village, NYC w the flying skulls and coffins and African-like masks and all kinds of icons of dread, and many I lifted directly and carved into my frames, others I made up, extending the inherited vocabulary. These pieces conflate time. Within these so-called 400 yr old frames were versions of our world today, kind of a dark post-apocalyptic version, sort of a warning of kinds, or sort of intimating America atone for its sins. Thus the interiors are all built landscapes, high-rises, bridges, hi-tension wires, roller coasters, boxcars ... I selected to define these things in the silver aluminum because it’s glossy and shiny and bounced from the matte skyline backdrops. Thus they’re reflective in low light at night; it extends the life of the paintings. I love the contrasts like this throughout these pieces, formally with the materials, and conceptually with the conflation of time.
The flavor of my world then was Delta Blues like Robert Johnson played obsessively, Blind Lemon Jefferson, etc., blended w punk, Husker Du, X, The Minutemen, crossed w Hank Williams, Sr., skateboarding, and fine art. I was possessed and would crank out a painting or two a day at times. Embracing folk art traditions like tombstone carving, and contemporary techniques like collage, seeking a blend of so called high art and low art, fine art and street art/pop art, folk art and what’s considered sophisticated art. And reading a ton of Philip K. Dick (literally everything), and J.G. Ballard (as much as pos.).
I think these pieces hit their mark and still look fresh today. I certainly hope they have that evergreen quality and yet carve out a space for themselves in the period they came from. My aim was to make them unique — indeed there’s nothing else like them — and meditative, something you could live with and sit with and reflect about our world, kinda like a church bell struck.
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The Timemarkers are shaped canvas paintings, as they say, although canvas is a stretch applied to these, I did from 1987-1993. They are actually more like relief paintings, or dioramas, but we can get into that later. These pieces were based upon my sense of inherited history, how we stand on the shoulders or are crushed by the feet of what came before us, individually and as a culture. They are industrial landscape-based, and somewhat reflect my view of Manhattan from my DUMBO, BKLYN loft circa 1985, although I would have denied that at the time. They are built out of roofing material I found on my roof and later tracked down the vendor somewhere in Queens, a kind of corrugated aluminum that was really malleable, and a papier-mâché and plaster combo and inks I came up w for the frames which I wanted to resemble old stone, as well as acrylic and patched cotton duck canvas. So they are really tactile, dimensional pieces, as people seemed more fascinated by dioramas than paintings I reasoned.
The frames are based upon Puritan tombstones I was fascinated by at the time, they seemed so relevant to the early - mid 80’s East Village, NYC w the flying skulls and coffins and African-like masks and all kinds of icons of dread, and many I lifted directly and carved into my frames, others I made up, extending the inherited vocabulary. These pieces conflate time. Within these so-called 400 yr old frames were versions of our world today, kind of a dark post-apocalyptic version, sort of a warning of kinds, or sort of intimating America atone for its sins. Thus the interiors are all built landscapes, high-rises, bridges, hi-tension wires, roller coasters, boxcars ... I selected to define these things in the silver aluminum because it’s glossy and shiny and bounced from the matte skyline backdrops. Thus they’re reflective in low light at night; it extends the life of the paintings. I love the contrasts like this throughout these pieces, formally with the materials, and conceptually with the conflation of time.
The flavor of my world then was Delta Blues like Robert Johnson played obsessively, Blind Lemon Jefferson, etc., blended w punk, Husker Du, X, The Minutemen, crossed w Hank Williams, Sr., skateboarding, and fine art. I was possessed and would crank out a painting or two a day at times. Embracing folk art traditions like tombstone carving, and contemporary techniques like collage, seeking a blend of so called high art and low art, fine art and street art/pop art, folk art and what’s considered sophisticated art. And reading a ton of Philip K. Dick (literally everything), and J.G. Ballard (as much as pos.).
I think these pieces hit their mark and still look fresh today. I certainly hope they have that evergreen quality and yet carve out a space for themselves in the period they came from. My aim was to make them unique — indeed there’s nothing else like them — and meditative, something you could live with and sit with and reflect about our world, kinda like a church bell struck.
The Timemarkers are shaped canvas paintings, as they say, although canvas is a stretch applied to these, I did from 1987-1993. They are actually more like relief paintings, or dioramas, but we can get into that later. These pieces were based upon my sense of inherited history, how we stand on the shoulders or are crushed by the feet of what came before us, individually and as a culture. They are industrial landscape-based, and somewhat reflect my view of Manhattan from my DUMBO, BKLYN loft circa 1985, although I would have denied that at the time. They are built out of roofing material I found on my roof and later tracked down the vendor somewhere in Queens, a kind of corrugated aluminum that was really malleable, and a papier-mâché and plaster combo and inks I came up w for the frames which I wanted to resemble old stone, as well as acrylic and patched cotton duck canvas. So they are really tactile, dimensional pieces, as people seemed more fascinated by dioramas than paintings I reasoned.
The frames are based upon Puritan tombstones I was fascinated by at the time, they seemed so relevant to the early - mid 80’s East Village, NYC w the flying skulls and coffins and African-like masks and all kinds of icons of dread, and many I lifted directly and carved into my frames, others I made up, extending the inherited vocabulary. These pieces conflate time. Within these so-called 400 yr old frames were versions of our world today, kind of a dark post-apocalyptic version, sort of a warning of kinds, or sort of intimating America atone for its sins. Thus the interiors are all built landscapes, high-rises, bridges, hi-tension wires, roller coasters, boxcars ... I selected to define these things in the silver aluminum because it’s glossy and shiny and bounced from the matte skyline backdrops. Thus they’re reflective in low light at night; it extends the life of the paintings. I love the contrasts like this throughout these pieces, formally with the materials, and conceptually with the conflation of time.
The flavor of my world then was Delta Blues like Robert Johnson played obsessively, Blind Lemon Jefferson, etc., blended w punk, Husker Du, X, The Minutemen, crossed w Hank Williams, Sr., skateboarding, and fine art. I was possessed and would crank out a painting or two a day at times. Embracing folk art traditions like tombstone carving, and contemporary techniques like collage, seeking a blend of so called high art and low art, fine art and street art/pop art, folk art and what’s considered sophisticated art. And reading a ton of Philip K. Dick (literally everything), and J.G. Ballard (as much as pos.).
I think these pieces hit their mark and still look fresh today. I certainly hope they have that evergreen quality and yet carve out a space for themselves in the period they came from. My aim was to make them unique — indeed there’s nothing else like them — and meditative, something you could live with and sit with and reflect about our world, kinda like a church bell struck.
Welcome to the 9th episode of the Steve Sas Schwartz Podcast (more notes from the underground). Tonight I talk about - or rather complain, ha - about the LA art scene, but then take a deep dive into my Wagon Wheel Mandala, an upgraded, intensely painted vintage wagon wheel.
a bit before covid i was fortunate enough to go to Africa and do philanthropic work w hope chest international. my role was the social media guy, but i ended up drawing portraits of swaziland aids and civil war orphans, and rwandan genocide survivors. i would draw them and give them the drawings, and in some cases it was collaborative and the kids colored them in. it was incredibly satisfying. these are from the first leg, and later went to sierra leone to draw ebola virus orphans.
In this installment I discuss my series of figure-based paintings, the Black Holes series.
These are large-scaled, textured paintings of silhouetted figures immersed in abstracted environments. Here I share my thought and development process, and the why.
Please enjoy, subscribe and share!
Thank you so much,
Steve
In Episode 5 of The Steve Sas Schwartz Podcast I discuss my Soul Kitchen series. This is a conceptual / sculptural series loosely based upon the Japanese tradition of Kintsugi, where broken crockery is repaired with gold leaf, tracing the history of the break and fix.
For those that don't know, I work in different genres at the same time, abstract, figurative, and conceptual. This is the conceptual leg.
Hope it's interesting and provocative.
Steve
Episode 3 is my first long form podcast with multidisciplinary artist, Cybele Rowe. Cybele is best known for her large scale ceramic sculpture, but she also paints, sews and creates in a wide range of practices. Here we take a deep dive into many.
Enjoy!
In this podcast I discuss my Oar pieces, which are part of the Instruments of Agency series. These are antique wooden oars striped vigorously, which I display singly or with others, leaning floor-to-wall or hung on walls, many installation options. I also cart them around to openings, museums, and walking around downtown LA.
I began the 'walking staff' kinda concept after discovering this artist Andre Cadere on Instagram, who famously walked around 1970’s Paris with what he called his "round bars," so similar to the oars! I love how the performative aspect upends the gallery/museum/public hierarchy. Any show is your show. I had been painting these paddles for years but never carried them around publicly, I thought I was too shy, and suddenly felt I inherited this spirit through osmosis or something I guess, like time to carry the torch!
In this inaugural episode Steve introduces the podcast and explains why he's doing it, then jumps right in to discussing his current work in a compelling manner.
Steve Sas Schwartz / sAsArT / Contemporary Painting & Sculpture
The Timemarkers are shaped canvas paintings, as they say, although canvas is a stretch applied to these, I did from 1987-1993. They are actually more like relief paintings, or dioramas, but we can get into that later. These pieces were based upon my sense of inherited history, how we stand on the shoulders or are crushed by the feet of what came before us, individually and as a culture. They are industrial landscape-based, and somewhat reflect my view of Manhattan from my DUMBO, BKLYN loft circa 1985, although I would have denied that at the time. They are built out of roofing material I found on my roof and later tracked down the vendor somewhere in Queens, a kind of corrugated aluminum that was really malleable, and a papier-mâché and plaster combo and inks I came up w for the frames which I wanted to resemble old stone, as well as acrylic and patched cotton duck canvas. So they are really tactile, dimensional pieces, as people seemed more fascinated by dioramas than paintings I reasoned.
The frames are based upon Puritan tombstones I was fascinated by at the time, they seemed so relevant to the early - mid 80’s East Village, NYC w the flying skulls and coffins and African-like masks and all kinds of icons of dread, and many I lifted directly and carved into my frames, others I made up, extending the inherited vocabulary. These pieces conflate time. Within these so-called 400 yr old frames were versions of our world today, kind of a dark post-apocalyptic version, sort of a warning of kinds, or sort of intimating America atone for its sins. Thus the interiors are all built landscapes, high-rises, bridges, hi-tension wires, roller coasters, boxcars ... I selected to define these things in the silver aluminum because it’s glossy and shiny and bounced from the matte skyline backdrops. Thus they’re reflective in low light at night; it extends the life of the paintings. I love the contrasts like this throughout these pieces, formally with the materials, and conceptually with the conflation of time.
The flavor of my world then was Delta Blues like Robert Johnson played obsessively, Blind Lemon Jefferson, etc., blended w punk, Husker Du, X, The Minutemen, crossed w Hank Williams, Sr., skateboarding, and fine art. I was possessed and would crank out a painting or two a day at times. Embracing folk art traditions like tombstone carving, and contemporary techniques like collage, seeking a blend of so called high art and low art, fine art and street art/pop art, folk art and what’s considered sophisticated art. And reading a ton of Philip K. Dick (literally everything), and J.G. Ballard (as much as pos.).
I think these pieces hit their mark and still look fresh today. I certainly hope they have that evergreen quality and yet carve out a space for themselves in the period they came from. My aim was to make them unique — indeed there’s nothing else like them — and meditative, something you could live with and sit with and reflect about our world, kinda like a church bell struck.
