"Still Life with Anchor"
Oil Painting.
30" x 40".
Framed.
Steve Mockensturm - Toledo Artist
I use pigments and oils, brushes and knives to make pictures on wood and canvas. I tend to work loose and slow, building layers, pushing edges around, pitting dark against light. My approach to painting is vocational; there is work to do and there are problems to solve.
The goal, the overall effect, is natural realism. I like to paint and draw through direct observation and come up with a bold and accurate report of the scene. Details emerge but the light, feeling and atmosphere are what I'm after.
The first time I heard the term Still Life, I couldn't believe this was even a thing. Years later I learned the term has historically occupied the lowest tier in the hierarchy of artistic genres. To my mind, however, the realistic Still Life is so much more than polite decoration with lemons and bugs, but rather a fortifying tonic for disorder and confusion.
The invitation is to rest. The scene is a durable and intimate tableau-a table-never far removed from the notion of gathering. The items are ordinary, natural and true. The eye can move without strain. The essence of the setup can be interrogated again and again and again.
I believe that "lucidity, deliberation, probity and calm" remain the most important virtues of painting. Scientific principles of light, energy and matter fascinate me. I wish to remind and be reminded that the world is a real place with real things that we can touch and hold and see.
Solo Exhibitions
2017 Art Supply Depo, "Rock Paper", Bowling Green, OH
2009 Madhouse Gallery, "Produce, Produce", Toledo, OH
Group Exhibitions
2019 Porter Gallery at TSA, "Undisclosed", Toledo, OH
2017 Maker Gallery, "AIGA The Art of Protest", Toledo, OH
2012 Center for Visual Arts, "AIGA Half & Half Summer Show", Toledo, OH
2004 Toledo Museum of Art, "86th Toledo Area Artists Exhibition", Toledo, OH
2003 Toledo Museum of Art, "85th Toledo Area Artists Exhibition", Toledo, OH
2000 Toledo Museum of Art, "82nd Toledo Area Artists Exhibition", Toledo, OH
1999 The Davis Building, "Guerrilla Gallery", Toledo, OH
Public Collections
Donated 2015 "Resurrection", St. Andrews Episcopal Church, Toledo, OH
Acquired 2011 "Reactor"; "Perry", Rubbertree Software, Perrysburg, OH
Donated 2005 "Eden", Sunset Retirement Communities, Sylvania, OH
Private Collections
Acquired 2020 "Life"; "Legal"
Acquired 2018 "Wreck"
Acquired 2015 "Stacks"
Acquired 2010 "Pepper and Shallot"; "Lemons"
Acquired 2005 "Blue Bottles"
Acquired 2004 "Greens"
Publications
2016 "Rock & Roll Never Dies" Midcentury Modern
2008 "The Word It Book" Vit | Palacio-Gomez, HOW Books
2007 "The Grapes of Mrs. Rath" The Composition of Everyday Life, Mauk | Metz, Wadsworth
Awards
2015 Crosby Festival of The Arts - Third Award, Graphics.
Affiliations / Memberships
Board of Directors, Toledo School for The Arts, 2006-2013
All sales on original artwork are final. No discounts apply.