Will You Be My Muse?

In his new exhibition at Mark Borghi Gallery in Sag Harbor, Clintel Steed asks the open-ended question, “Will You Be My Muse For Summer 2022?” The exhibition opens with a reception on Saturday, June 4, from 5:30 to 8 p.m. and remains on view through June 16. Rather than seeking an answer to this invitation, he is looking for a new understanding of what a muse is today.

The Impressionists Manet and Degas utilized women as muses, not simply as passive models but as essential partners, collaborators, and sometimes lovers and wives. With the instant gratification of 5G technology, everything at your fingertips bending time and space; knowledge, visuals, and desires are met instantly. Turning to history, Steed has found his muse and partner through the artistic transcriptions of the great modern master Jackson Pollock’s “Autumn Rhythm” at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Steed moves forward in his well-known impasto painting style with 20 different explorations by analyzing the composition, color and value of Pollock’s undeniable signature style. Steed simplifies his interpretation down to strokes and marks with no identifiable figures or focal points to transcribe. He experiences Pollock’s harmonic communication of color like an intimate dance, one color leaning into the next anticipating the effect. Steed’s work evades a focal point and reaches beyond the edge of the canvas into the immeasurable points in space. What is classically referred to as an “all over-abstraction.”

After receiving his BFA from The Art Institute of Chicago and then his MFA from Indiana University in 2001, Steed drove to New York City with his easel tied to the top of his car and settled in Harlem, where he continued to take Advanced Studies at the New York Studio School under Graham Nickson. He has received numerous awards, including the Painting Award at the 181st Annual of the National Academy of Design in 2006, the John Koch Award at the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 2015, and the Artcritical media prize in 2017.

He has had solo shows in many galleries and has taught at the New York Studio School, Pratt Institute, the Fashion Institute of Technology, and the Chautauqua Institution. Steed continues to live and work in New York City and is a New York Studio School instructor.

Mark Borghi Gallery is at 34 Main Street in Sag Harbor. For information, visit markborghi.com.