the street is our gallery

November 10, 2016 to December 10, 2016

Nuart gallery presents  the Canadian artist Steven Spazuk for his second Scandinavian solo show 

The idea of painting with fire came to artist Steven Spazuk in a dream in 2001 and since then he has been perfecting his technique called fumage. In his latest show, Spazuk continues to push the boundaries of fumage: using an open candle flame, he leaves a fine depot of carbon black on blank paper to create marks of smoke. Then, using feathers, scrapers and brushes, he sculpts his canvas of soot to render shapes and light. As he states, spontaneity and chance are the heart and soul of his creative process. He does not censor. He does not direct. He opens himself to the experience.

This in-the-moment creative practice coupled with the fluidity of the soot creates a torrent of images, shadows and light. Fuelled by the quest of a perfect shape that has yet to materialize, he concentrate in a meditative act and surrender to capture the immediacy of the moment on canvas. Spazuk immerses himself in the humanity of his subjects to create remarkable portraits and express the fragility and precariousness of the species that share our biosphere.

Fragments of things, events, people, are seen as a powerful metaphor of modern life and, even more so, of the way we perceive things through our senses and minds. His work expresses how every one of us is a constituent fragment of the human community and serves as a powerful reminder of our responsibility to health and life.

Steven Spazuk has participated in exhibitions and performances in Montreal, New York, Milan, Toronto, Berlin, Florence, Norway and Japan.

LOCATION

Nuart Gallery,

Salvågergata 10 – Stavanger

Event on facebook here