Gary Steer is a Manchester based artist whose practice centres around richly pigmented semi-abstracted portraiture. The most striking tonal shifts in hisworks occur when he selects colours that ‘vibrate’ next to each other. Imbued with a sense of nostalgia and romance, the featureless faces of his figures are primed for each viewer’s individual projections. Working on instinct and the fleeting moments that capture his attention day to day, he connects his audience with an internal world. Whether a line in a song, an overheard snippet of conversation, an old photograph or a film still, Steer expands each germinating idea into a relatable visual story.
With many far-reaching influences, the artist’s love of music, film, poetry and art is evident in the character of the works and their titles. A form of collage in paint, he connects artistic elements in a reverential pastiche of styles and time periods. The influence of Milton Avery, Francis Bacon and Vincent Van Gogh is evident alongside that of German Expressionism, Die Brücke, Fauvism, French New Wave Cinema and 1990s pop culture. Having said this, part of the charm of Steer’s work is the fun in looking for the viewer, that unpicking of narratives as different parts become clearer over time – a cultural ‘Guess Who?’.
‘Paintings in the Key of Life’ is Gary Steer’s second solo exhibition after 2021’s ‘Apricity’ at Chorlton’s The Edge. A complete sell out of every piece, this very welcome if not unexpected early success has spurred Steer on to create a wider body of work drawing on more influences than before. Moving further into abstraction, this new collection has tastes of modernist geometric forms, colour field painting, cinematic vignettes and retro clothing. There is a sense of solitude to each piece, even in works with multiple figures. The subjects seem frozen in time; waiting or anticipating what is to come, resigned to the inevitable and longing for change. Whether situated in a rural, domestic or social setting, each work reads like a snapshot moment in celluloid pops of colour.
Kirsty Jukes – Writer/Curator/Historian
With many far-reaching influences, the artist’s love of music, film, poetry and art is evident in the character of the works and their titles. A form of collage in paint, he connects artistic elements in a reverential pastiche of styles and time periods. The influence of Milton Avery, Francis Bacon and Vincent Van Gogh is evident alongside that of German Expressionism, Die Brücke, Fauvism, French New Wave Cinema and 1990s pop culture. Having said this, part of the charm of Steer’s work is the fun in looking for the viewer, that unpicking of narratives as different parts become clearer over time – a cultural ‘Guess Who?’.
‘Paintings in the Key of Life’ is Gary Steer’s second solo exhibition after 2021’s ‘Apricity’ at Chorlton’s The Edge. A complete sell out of every piece, this very welcome if not unexpected early success has spurred Steer on to create a wider body of work drawing on more influences than before. Moving further into abstraction, this new collection has tastes of modernist geometric forms, colour field painting, cinematic vignettes and retro clothing. There is a sense of solitude to each piece, even in works with multiple figures. The subjects seem frozen in time; waiting or anticipating what is to come, resigned to the inevitable and longing for change. Whether situated in a rural, domestic or social setting, each work reads like a snapshot moment in celluloid pops of colour.
Kirsty Jukes – Writer/Curator/Historian