Steve French Gallery

Art Works Courtesy of Wanda Waldera • Curated by JoAnne Northrup
Mapping the Seasons III[1]
Mapping the Seasons III

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“Two subjects with cyclical themes occupy my recent work. One is the journey, a repeated cycle of beginning and end; the other is the garden with its continuing cycle of seasonal changes.“

 

— Steve French

 

The Bay Area art world mourns the loss of Steve French, a prolific and gifted artist and long-time professor of art at San Jose State University, who died in February. French influenced generations of artists who studied with him and often benefited from his mentoring even after the conclusion of their formal studies. He was also a dedicated member of the Board of Trustees and Collections Committee at the San Jose Museum of Art, where his erudite insights and in-depth knowledge of the Bay Area art scene imbued his opinions with a special gravitas. A lover of life, beauty, art, music, food and wine, family and friends, his infectious laugh and joie de vivre defined him, as did his unwavering commitment to his studio practice.

 

– JoAnne Northrup

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The works in this gallery provide a sampling of the artist’s oeuvre, and hint at the riches still to be found in his studio. Beginning with his serigraphs from 1970, bodily sensuality meets with architectural forms, as lozenge-like shapes animate the glossy silver, reflecting viewers in their mirror-like surfaces. Later works demonstrate a maturing sensibility as French created a series of painted constructions with sticks jutting out from the surface, based on Franz Shubert’s Die Winterriese (Winter Journey). Rather than a bleak vision, French’s interpretation of this song cycle posits a journey in winter as a source for healing and inspiration. Finally, the recent lush, playful canvases allow the viewer to witness the consistency of his artistic vocabulary, as forms hinted at in early works come to fruition with these remarkable paintings, completed just months and sometimes weeks prior to his death.

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