GARY STEER: Paintings In The Key Of Life
The Edge Theatre & Arts Centre, Manchester, UK
11-12 / 2023
Manchester-based artist Gary Steer's new show is a striking selection of his recent canvases, a feast for the eye and a treat to the soul; it both beguiles and challenges the viewer as a passport to their creator's interior world.
The work combines a meditative sense with one of mediation. Elegantly loose figures are clearly defined while maintaining a sense of mystery. Their primary feature is their facelessness, a suggestion of shadows stilled but never stilted by their moment of preservation.
His colors are boldly pastel, which adds to the sense of mystery. Reminiscent of the painter Marie Laurencin Steer's palette suggests a refined isolation quality but with an element of contentment. This reflective world offers elements of inclusiveness to those who engage with it.
The distinctiveness of style means one is left with an instant ability to recognize the artist's aesthetic. A visual signature is defined in the mind. Settings are amorphous, domestic perhaps, or simply social, but resonate with an openness that permits those encountering them afresh to speculate.
With a somewhat cinematic quality a jerkiness of dreams, both decorative and defiantly subtle, these works are the continuation of a quietly steadfast output. Their sense of rapture and entrapment means they have yet to travel for others yet to see.
A quiet challenge to the eye with a sense of greeting and an aspect of goodbye.