Art & Critique

Stephen Magsig

Stephen Magsig’s urban scenes share one common feature: despite the realism, they possess an eerie atmosphere, as though inflated by foreboding whiffs of air. It’s as if these locations have just been abandoned, all the people being forced to evacuate the setting by a fire alarm; Stephen follows, and documents what has been left behind. Perhaps, this is the characteristic mood of the city to which the painter is so dedicated — the city of Detroit. The artist strives to represent it from many angles, in various settings and different times of day, and night; he paints the downtown and the suburbia, all in the endeavor to make this representation as objective and as comprehensive as possible. Looking at his pieces one cannot but become fascinated with the city, its life and its history. Gradually, one would have to acknowledge a growing delicate sense of respect and even awe towards this industrial beast. Recognizing the artist’s intent in communicating these impressions would be the next logical step.

The variety of locations shown on Stephen’s paintings reveals how the city expands laterally; the towers and the depictions of highly positioned windows demonstrate the vertical growth. I think that conceptually, the former can describe the city’s past and present, while the latter may imply that it also has a future. Most of these urban snippets are well lit — just about enough to convey a reserved sense of optimism, which, in turn, the night scenes may whittle down. This complex emotional scheme finds a further expression in the choice of subject matter: the artist consistently dwells on corner building and shops; as a result, one side would often be abundantly illuminated while the other would stay in almost complete darkness — these are real, as well as allegorical junctions. Moreover, many of the structures appear to be sliced by various horizontal objects, such as poles or columns, contributing to a certain, though not clearly definable, anxiety.

These features denote the artist’s flair for effective compositions as his strongest stylistic ability. I imagine that finding the right setting, and sifting out millions of others, can be a frustrating and even a creatively detrimental and paralyzing activity. It demands considerable confidence, decisiveness and eventually risk taking. These qualities are also notable in the brushwork: examined closely, it may appear random in some parts of a painting, and only after a repeated viewing will it become obvious that these are the most surprising and lively parts of that particular piece. All in all, Stephen offers a vision of the city through a continuous focus on its neighborhoods, buildings, factories and parks. He forged a niche — “A visual diary of Detroit in paintings,” in his own words — and proved it to be very resourceful. And I will testify that for once, I learned a great deal about a place not from the movies, but from the paintings.

Stephen Magsig exhibits his artwork in various established galleries and on this blog.

Read More Reviews:

• Introducing Participants — Poll 2
• Frank Gardner: Mexican Landscapes
• Edvard Munch: Girls on the Pier
• Jean-Francois Millet: The Wood Sawyers
• Michelangelo: The Sistine Chapel Ceiling, the Prophet Ezekiel
• Don Li-Leger: Karma and Aura
• Raphael: The Esterhazy Madonna
• El Greco: View of Toledo
• [Art Interpretation Guide] Brainstorming Part 2: Elements of Art — Lines and Colors
• Claude Monet: The Haystacks Series

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 23rd, 2007 at 11:05 pm and is filed under Daily/Frequent Painters, Stephen Magsig. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.