“(Steven Silverstein’s) work thoroughly adapts photographic means to painterly ends - relying on the very slight, almost unnoticeable slippage between the two media’s respective factures to provide a mental buzz, a sneaking or sudden realization that what we’re seeing is not quite what we’re seeing... ”
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS AND INSTALLATIONS
Retrospect (group exhibition) - February 15 - March, 24, 2024, Janssen Artspace Gallery, Palm Springs, California.
Abstract artwork in the Retrospect exhibition. The first image below is Oasis from an experimental series titled 4.5. On the table is a stack of “Steven Silverstein” monographs with a forward by art critic Peter Frank. The second image is Forever Twiggy, from an untitled series.
Oasis (on wall). Abstract photograph, archival pigment inks on paper, dibond mounted and framed. Edition of 3. © Steven Silverstein. All rights reserved.
Forever Twiggy (on wall, to left). Abstract photograph, archival pigment inks on canvas. Edition of 3. © Steven Silverstein. All rights reserved.
Utopia (group exhibition) - October 20 - November 26, 2023, Janssen Artspace Gallery, Palm Springs, California.
Abstract photographs on canvas from the Civic Experiment project, a notion about the impact that city and suburban planning has on communities and society. View more from this series →
Exhibit at Janssen Artspace Gallery with High Beam (in the window). Abstract photograph, archival pigment inks on canvas, framed. Edition of 3. © Steven Silverstein. All rights reserved.
On The Boulevard (on right). Abstract photograph, archival pigment inks on canvas, framed. Edition of 3. © Steven Silverstein. All rights reserved.
Aesthetica (group exhibition) - February 4 - 26, 2023, Janssen Artspace Gallery, Palm Springs, California.
Play Through (in the center) is a throw-back to the beginning of my fashion photography career in Paris, photographed in 1976 for the cover of the first Chaussure edition of the avant-garde fashion magazine, Depeche Mode. It was a figment of the imagination shot on a Paris hotel pool diving board with an infusion of California conceptualism. Read more about it →
Play Through. Photograph, archival inks on paper, UV finish, aluminum mount. Edition of 25. © Steven Silverstein. All rights Reserved.
Domsmiren (doms-mi-re’n) (group exhibition) - April 15 - May 16, 2021, Janssen Artspace Gallery, Palm Springs, California.
Abstract photographs on rag paper with hand-torn edges, from the Tribal series. Although not created as tribal art, later the images spoke to me on a spiritual level that I interpreted as having similarities to tribal spirituality and rituals. In situ, they have watercolor-like textures that are more painterly than photographic. View more from this series →
Domsmiren (doms-mi-re’n) exhibit at Janssen Artspace Gallery in Palm Springs (L to R): Superstition, Spirits In The Wind, Rain Dance. Abstract photographs, archival pigment inks on rag paper, hand-torn edges, framed. Editions of 5 each. © Steven Silverstein. All rights reserved.
Superstition. Abstract photograph, archival pigment inks on rag paper, hand-torn edges, framed. Edition of 5. © Steven Silverstein. All rights reserved.
High rise condominium residential installation - March 2021, Downtown Los Angeles.
The first artwork below - Shifting Palette - is a photographic abstract from the Movement Between series, custom sized and installed for the space. The second one - Notes In Yellow and Blue - is from the Color Fields series. View more from this series →
Shifting Palette. Abstract photograph, archival pigment inks on canvas, framed.. © Steven Silverstein. All rights reserved.
Notes in Yellow and Blue. Abstract photograph, archival pigment inks on canvas, framed. © Steven Silverstein. All rights reserved.
Hotel installation - February 2020, Houston, Texas. Westin Medical Center Hotel main and upper level lobbies.
The first three - Angles Within and Polygons at Play - are photographic abstracts from The Polygons series. View more from this series → The last - Reflections in Case Study - is from the Civic Experiment project. View more →
Angles Within. Abstract photograph, archival pigment inks on canvas. © Steven Silverstein. All rights reserved.
Angles Within (on right). Abstract photograph, archival pigment inks on canvas. © Steven Silverstein. All rights reserved.
Polygons at Play. Abstract photograph, archival pigment inks on canvas. © Steven Silverstein. All rights reserved.
Reflections in Case Study. Abstract photograph, archival pigment inks on canvas. © Steven Silverstein. All rights reserved.
A Modern High (group exhibition) - February 14 - March 15, 2020, Janssen Artspace Gallery, Palm Springs, California. (CLOSED early due to Covid-19 pandemic).
Exhibit with nine abstract photographs from my Civic Experiment project, a theme about how cities and suburbs are constructed, governed and experienced. View more from this series →
A Modern High exhibit at Janssen Art Space gallery in Palm Springs (L to R on walls): Reflections in Case Study, Sunset on Frey’s Rocks, Suburban Intervention, Playground, Garden Cities, Step Across My Brown Grass, Causeway, Utopia. Abstract photographs, archival pigment inks on canvas. Editions of 3 each. © Steven Silverstein. All rights reserved.
(L to R) Causeway and Utopia. Abstract photographs, archival pigment inks on canvas. Editions of 3 each. © Steven Silverstein. All rights Reserved.
Office installation - February 2018, Studio City, California.
This photographic abstract on canvas - Notes In Yellow and Blue - is from the Color Fields series. View more from this series →
Notes in Yellow and Blue. Abstract photograph, archival pigment inks on canvas. © Steven Silverstein. All rights reserved.
Civic Experiment (solo exhibition) - December 2, 2017 - January 20, 2018, Los Angeles, California.
The Civic Experiment project began in 2014 as an on-going, non-objective photographic exploration of light, colors, forms and symbols. At some point, a theme emerged from concern with the way in which cities and suburbs are constructed, governed and experienced. Artist statement →
Civic Experiment solo exhibit in conjunction with Artisseur, in Angeles. (L to R): Utopia, On the Boulevard, Left Behind, Reflections in Case Study, Causeway. Abstract photographs, archival pigment inks on canvas. Editions of 3 each. © Steven Silverstein. All rights reserved.
Residential installation - August 2017, Hollywood, California.
Below is a portrait of the first mainstream drag queen, Divine (Harris Glenn Milstead), from a 1980 photo session in New York City. The second artwork is Runway, a photographic abstract that was shown in the Schrodinger’s Math exhibition. View more from the exhibition →
Divine. Black and white photograph, archival inks on paper, with mat and frame. Edition of 25. © Steven Silverstein. All rights Reserved.
Runway Abstract photograph, archival pigment inks on rag paper, hand-torn edges, framed. Edition of 5. © Steven Silverstein. All rights reserved.
Sense of Space: Split House Project - October 8, 2015 (reception) - February 1, 2016, presented by Michael Kovac & Associates, Santa Monica, California.
Five abstract photographs were selected by architectural firm Michael Kovac & Associates, in conjunction with the release of Michael Webb’s book "Sense of Space: Elements of California Modernism" (Pepperdine University Press). Additional information →
Black Queen. Abstract photograph, archival pigment inks on rag paper, hand torn edges, framed. Edition of 5. © Steven Silverstein. All rights Reserved.
(L to R) Haywire, Tangerine Dream, Spaces Within II. Editions of 5 each. Abstract photographs, archival pigment inks on rag paper, hand-torn edges, framed. Edition of 5 each. ©Steven Silverstein. All rights reserved.
I See You Exhibition (invitational group exhibition) - January 10 - June 10, 2015, Texas State Capitol, Austin, Texas.
Running concurrent with the 50th Anniversary of the national Voting Rights Act of 1965, six artists were invited to participate and recognized in a Texas Senate Resolution on March 10, 2015 for their support of human and civil rights through artistic expression. Two of my abstract photographs were selected, the only photography in the exhibit. Additional information →
Right On. Abstract photograph, archival pigment inks on rag paper, hand-torn edges, framed. Edition of 5. © Steven Silverstein. All rights reserved.
Residential installation - December 2014, Houston, Texas.
High Speed is an experimental photographic abstract from the Color Fields series, and was exhibited in Schrodinger’s Math. View more from the exhibition →
High Speed. Abstract photograph, archival pigment inks on rag paper, hand-torn edges, framed. Edition of 5. © Steven Silverstein. All rights reserved.
Residential installation - November 2014, Studio City, California.
Mystical Interpretation (on left) is a photographic abstract from the ongoing Mystical series, installed in the residence of a prominent Los Angeles collector.
Mystical Interpretation (on left). Abstract photograph, archival pigment inks on rag paper, hand-torn edges, framed in plexiglas. Edition of 10. © Steven Silverstein. All rights reserved. Other artwork shown is by Channa Horwitz and Andy Warhol.
Hotel installation and exhibition - September 25 (installation); November 19, 2014 (reception) - JW Marriott Gallery, Houston, Texas.
Exhibition for the new hotel gallery’s permanent collection, with a curation of paintings and photography by local, national and international artists. Additional information →
Abstract photographs (L to R) Black Queen. Archival pigment inks on rag paper, hand-torn edges. Edition of 5. Spaces Within II. Archival pigment inks on canvas, framed. © Steven Silverstein. All rights reserved.
Schrodinger's Math: Observe + Decide (2-person exhibition) - April 24 - June 21, 2014, Esperson Gallery, Houston, Texas.
This was the first exhibition of the Color Fields series. These abstract photographic works on paper are an exploration of the interaction of space, form and color, and its effects on human perception. Since they confuse traditional photographic boundaries with their appearance of brush-stroked textures and painterly illusion, traditional photographic black frames were used to convey that they are, in fact, photographs. Artist Statement →
Black Queen. Abstract photograph, archival pigment inks on rag paper, hand torn edges, framed. Edition of 5. © Steven Silverstein. All rights reserved.
Tangerine Dream. Abstract photograph, archival pigment inks on rag paper, hand-torn edges, framed. Edition of 5. © Steven Silverstein. All rights reserved.
(L to R) Haywire, Runway, Spaces Within II. Abstract photograph, archival pigment inks on rag paper, hand-torn edges, framed. Edition of 5 each. © Steven Silverstein. All rights reserved.
(L to R) Right On, Winnowing III. Abstract photographs, archival pigment inks on rag paper, hand-torn edges, framed. Edition of 5 each. © Steven Silverstein. All rights reserved.