Steven Assael 
Dancing Figures with Tarot Cards, 2000 
oil on masonite 
40 1/2 x 47 1/2 inches

Steven Assael 
Club Kids, 2001
oil on canvas 
73 x 60 inches

Steven Assael: Paintings

November 1 – December 7, 2002  

Forum Gallery presents an exhibition of paintings and works on paper by Steven Assael, entitled Paintings, on view November 1 through December 7, 2002. A full color catalogue with an essay by Douglas F. Maxwell will accompany the exhibition.

Born in New York in 1957, Steven Assael is one of America’s leading figurative artists. His work typically reaches beyond the figure to explore issues of the human condition and identity. In this exhibition, his youthful subjects are painted in the exquisite costumes and adornments of their choosing and his portrayals become penetrating character studies and intense psychodramas.

The themes in this exhibition are youth, death and family. The youth are represented by the clubbers who frequented the New York club Mother, and often include models who are pierced, tattooed and wearing leathers and sometimes fantastical headgear. These subjects may first seem impenetrable, but under Assael’s masterful hand they become very human and much more than near representatives of an urban subculture. The painting, At Mother, 2001, the centerpiece of the exhibition, is one of Assael's most ambitious works to date. A freestanding painting in three parts, it is reminiscent of a gothic altarpiece with its integral surround and deep dimensionality.  

In other major paintings in the exhibition, Assael presents the oldest and youngest members of his own family.  Mom and Dad, 2002 shows his father in his last moment of life. Douglas F. Maxwell writes of these works that, "…put together with the clubber paintings, they present a complete vision of life cycle from the youthful struggle to find one's way in the world to the inevitable climax."

©2005 Forum Gallery