S T E V E S M U L K A

GALLERY HENOCH555 WEST 25TH STREET NEW YORK, NY 10001

T: 917.305.0003 F: 917.305.0018 www.galleryhenoch.com

Cover: Eureka, Oil on Linen, 36” x 60”

STEVE SMULKA

October 8 - 31, 2015

Opening Reception for the Artist:

Thursday, October 8, 6-8 PM

Recent Paintings

PanaceaOil on Linen24” x 42”

Beyond the PaleOil on Linen26” x 46”

INSTALLATION VIEW: Beyond the Pale Panacea Oil on Linen Oil on Linen 26” x 46” 24” x 42”

The Last TreeOil on Linen46” x 34”

True BlueOil on Linen34” x 42”

Double MoxieOil on Linen28” x 96”

DrizzleOil on Linen30” x 46”

Steve Smulka paints glass—but it might be more accurate to say that Smulka paints light. Smulka

uses mason jars, vintage seltzer bottles, wine decanters, vases and water pitchers to capture the

way light bends, refracts, illuminates, and distorts its surroundings. In some of the paintings, back-

grounds of looming clouds and ridged tree bark are as in-focus as the glass containers in the fore-

ground, merging the two in a poetic, scrupulously accurate, yet slightly unreal manner. In other

paintings, bottles in columns two, three, or four deep create multiple layers of transparency that

make for almost abstract studies of light and color. In Steve Smulka’s closely observed, meditative

paintings, these densely luminous layers give weight to the intangible nature of light, while render-

ing solid objects with an atmospheric evanescence.

Born in Detroit, Michigan, Smulka attended The School of Visual Arts in Manhattan, where he stud-

ied with Chuck Close, who inspired him to paint in a realist manner. After earning his Masters in Fine

Arts from The University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Smulka returned to New York where he began

to experiment with different styles. His evolution to more minimalist composition, then to large ab-

stract landscapes, eventually resulted in a return to realism. He discovered that glass, in particular,

showed off the effects of light; soon after, glass became his pictorial trope.

Smulka has garnered international recognition for his distinct approach to Contemporary Realism.

His work has earned him particular attention from critic J. Bowyer Bell, who writes, “Each work is

lovingly crafted; the treatment of glass profound, mature, the skill, awesome; but it is the light that

matters, the light that is somehow transformed by facility of hand and felicity of brush into a com-

pelling icon. This mysterious alchemy of craft, vision and cunning turns paint into light and light into

magic.” Steve Smulka has exhibited in North and South America, Europe, and Japan, is a two-time

recipient of the Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant, and has been collected by some of America’s

largest corporations. He currently lives and works in New Mexico.

INSTALLATION VIEW: Morning Mist The Thrill of it All Oil on Linen Oil on Linen 30” x 42” 28” x 42”

Morning MistOil on Linen30” x 42”

The Thrill of It AllOil on Linen28” x 42”

Morning FogOil on Linen24” x 62”

INSTALLATION VIEW: Eureka Oil on Linen 36” x 60

Born: Detroit, MI, 1949

Education: 1971-73 University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, MFA1967-71 School of Visual Arts, New York, NY

Selected Exhibitions:2015 Solo Show, Gallery Henoch, New York, NY Summer Group Show, Gallery Henoch, New York, NY Dallas Art Fair, TX Winter Group Show, Gallery Henoch, New York, NY2014 ArtMiami: Context, Miami, FL Dallas Art Fair, TX Winter Group Show, Gallery Henoch, New York, NY2013 ArtMiami: Context, Miami, FL Winter Group Show, Plus One Gallery, London, UK “Hyperrealism Today,” Museu del Tabac, Andorra, Spain LAPADA Art Fair, London, UK Group Show, Gallery Henoch, New York, NY Dallas Art Fair, TX Boston Art Fair, MA2012 Group Show, Gallery Henoch, New York, NY Dallas Art Fair, TX Group Show, Plus One Gallery, London, UK LAPDA Art Fair, London UK2011 Two-person Show, Lew-Allen Gallery, Santa Fe, NM Group Show, Gallery Henoch, New York, NY Dallas Art Fair, TX Group Show, Plus One Gallery, London, UK Group Show, Quidley & Co., Boston, MA LAPDA Art Fair, London UK2010 Group Show, Gallery Henoch, New York, NY Dallas Art Fair, TX2009 Art of the 20th Century, New York, NY “Still Lifes,” Gallery Henoch, New York, NY Art Hamptons, Bridgehampton, NY “Exactitude V,” Plus One Gallery, London, England LA Art Show, Los Angeles, CA Group Show, Gallery Henoch, New York, NY

STEVE

SMULKA

2008 Art of the 20th Century, New York, NY US Artists, Philadelphia, PA Gallery Henoch, New York, NY Plus One Gallery, London, England Klaudia Marr Gallery, Santa Fe, NM2007 Solo Show, Plus One Gallery, London, England Klaudia Marr Gallery, Santa Fe, NM2006 Solo Show, Klaudia Marr Gallery, Santa Fe, NM Plus One Gallery, London, England 13th Realism Invitational, Klaudia Marr Gallery, Santa Fe, NM ARTLondon, London, England 2005 Group Exhibit, Klaudia Marr Gallery, Santa Fe, NM 12th Realism Invitational, Klaudia Marr Gallery, Santa Fe, NM Plus One Gallery, London, England 2004 Solo Show, Plus One Gallery, London, England 11th Realism Invitational, Klaudia Marr Gallery, Santa Fe, NM Debryne Gallery, Naples, FL2003 William Scott Gallery, Boston, MA 10th Realism Invitational, Klaudia Marr Gallery, Santa Fe, NM 2002 Gallery Henoch, New York, NY Three person show, van de Griff/Marr Gallery, Santa Fe, NM 9th Realism Invitational, van de Griff/Marr Gallery, Santa Fe, NM William Scott Gallery, Provincetown, MA2001 Gallery Henoch, New York, NY William Scott Gallery, Provincetown, MA 8th Realism Invitational, van de Griff/Marr Gallery, Santa Fe, NM2000 Solo Show, Gallery Henoch, New York, NY 7th Realism Invitational, van de Griff/Marr Gallery, Santa Fe, NM 1999 Gallery Henoch, New York, NY William Scott Gallery, Provincetown, MA1998 Solo Show, Gallery Henoch, New York, NY

1997 Summer Group Show, Gallery Henoch, New York, NY Winter Group Show, Gallery Henoch, New York, NY1996 Art Miami, Miami Beach, FL Edgartown Art Gallery, Martha’s Vineyard, MA Gallery Henoch, New York, NY1995 “Virtuosity,” Art Communication International, New York, NY Solo Show, Gallery Henoch, New York, NY1994 Gallery Henoch, New York, NY Brunswick Upper School, Greenwich, CT1993 Gallery Henoch, New York, NY Angels Group Show, Hastings Gallery, New Canaan, CT

Selected Awards: 2009 Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant 2004 Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant

Selected Public & Corporate Collections: Aldrich MuseumDeutsche BankMobil OilGeneral Instrument Co.Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.Needham, Harper, & Steers Continental Group County Federal Savings Connecticut Bank & Trust Marsh McClennan Inc. Chermayoff & Partners Javits, Brog, Robinson, Leinwald & Reich Atlantic Investment Management, Inc. Seven Bridges Foundation, Greenwich, CT Tohokushinsa Film Co. Ltd, Tokyo, Japan

Selected Publications: 2009 Exactitude: Hyperrealist Art Today by John Russell Taylor Published by Thames & Hudson

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