Spotlight Artist

Steve Gavenas

Pacific Coast
Artist profile photo

Languorous Vicissitudes

Person lying on a floating mat in calm blue water under a cloudy sky.

acrylic on canvas

(I) Boil the Ocean

Abstract black and white drawing with text, symbols, and various organic shapes throughout.

acrylic, marker, and charcoal on paper

Overworked Underconsidered

Three people underwater with words "UNDERAPPRECIATED," "CONSIDERED," "OVERWORKED" floating above.

acrylic and ink on paper

Featured in New American Paintings1 / 3

Artist Statement

 I am a father, a husband, a vagabond, and a fisherman; a diligent businessperson and a lazy anti-capitalist, a teacher and a student. I am an itinerant planet-dweller; a squirming knot of journeys and relationships often birthed from random occurrences.

I am drawn to dichotomies and juxtapositions; patterns and layers; snarly, swirling webs and puzzles. I am always trying to find more meaning in life and in art, and I don’t take myself too seriously.

My work reflects my suspicions, theories, myths, absurdities, and concerns about futures in art and in life. I use cartoonish imagery, typically with a black and white or monochromatic palette, to heighten the effect. I often begin deliberately but then let the process take over to see where it leads. Recently, I have been combining phrases with imagery; sometimes I get so obsessed with an image that I strive to find words which somehow resonate. Other times, a phrase gets stuck in my skull and leads the way. Some combinations are enigmatic, while others feel, in a way, like little open-ended—and often self-deprecating—advertisements for questions, admonitions, and hopes. I call it “anti-gravitas.”

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