Alex Steckly
November 6–December 5, 2009
Alex Steckly’s work is marked by an acute interest in the construction of paintings and sculptures using a geometric and formal vocabulary. Each of Steckly’s paintings build layer upon oil and enamel layer, resulting in matte surfaced abstract linear and geometric forms.
Violaceous tones create triangular articulations above and beneath the manifold of right angled white lines in Steckly’s painting Untitled (3). In Untitled (1), a left curved wave in the blackest of blue hues rests hushed beneath perfectly hand-painted horizontal white lines, with a simulated half-tone pattern splayed across the panel’s entirety. Steckly’s meditative working process, and the resulting paintings in this his most recent series, nod quietly to the minimalist works of Agnes Martin and Robert Ryman.
While his paintings host a magnitude of textures, the surfaces of Steckly’s white wall sculptures are perfectly smooth. Each sculpture is comprised of abstracted letterforms, built into an illegible diorama of shapes. Akin to the achromatic sculptures of Louise Nevelson, Steckly takes a contemporary look at formalism in the three works on view.
Alex Steckly lives and works in Portland, Oregon and has been recently been exhibiting in locations throughout Portland. Steckly’s work was included in the exhibition Rad Moon Rising: Portland Art Now, curated by Nathan Howdeshell for Deitch Projects last winter at Bas Fisher International, Miami Beach, FL. This is Steckly’s premiere solo exhibition.
November 6–December 5, 2009
Alex Steckly’s work is marked by an acute interest in the construction of paintings and sculptures using a geometric and formal vocabulary. Each of Steckly’s paintings build layer upon oil and enamel layer, resulting in matte surfaced abstract linear and geometric forms.
Violaceous tones create triangular articulations above and beneath the manifold of right angled white lines in Steckly’s painting Untitled (3). In Untitled (1), a left curved wave in the blackest of blue hues rests hushed beneath perfectly hand-painted horizontal white lines, with a simulated half-tone pattern splayed across the panel’s entirety. Steckly’s meditative working process, and the resulting paintings in this his most recent series, nod quietly to the minimalist works of Agnes Martin and Robert Ryman.
While his paintings host a magnitude of textures, the surfaces of Steckly’s white wall sculptures are perfectly smooth. Each sculpture is comprised of abstracted letterforms, built into an illegible diorama of shapes. Akin to the achromatic sculptures of Louise Nevelson, Steckly takes a contemporary look at formalism in the three works on view.
Alex Steckly lives and works in Portland, Oregon and has been recently been exhibiting in locations throughout Portland. Steckly’s work was included in the exhibition Rad Moon Rising: Portland Art Now, curated by Nathan Howdeshell for Deitch Projects last winter at Bas Fisher International, Miami Beach, FL. This is Steckly’s premiere solo exhibition.