Toledo artist Steve Mockensturm displays over two dozen paintings in the old masters style at the Fisher/Wall Art Gallery at the Marathon Center for the Performing Arts.
Still:Life features studies of the everyday, working with different color contrasts to evoke a quiet and moody feeling.
“The lighting here is amazing, and when you’re using a lot of chiaroscuro – very dark darks against bright lights – it really lets them shine,” Mockensturm said.
The paintings are traditional still life, including jugs, bowls, bottles and fruits.
“I think it’s one of my earliest memories of learning how to draw,” Mockensturm said. “Set up a bunch of things on a shelf, look at them and render what you see. Pretty simple.”
In Mockensturm’s artist statement on his website, smockensturm.com, he says his goal is “natural realism.”
“I like to paint and draw through direct observation and come up with a bold and accurate report of the scene,” Mockensturm said. “Details emerge but the light, feeling and atmosphere are what I’m after.”
According to his artist statement, Mockensturm says to him, “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 style of old masters paintings were common in Europe during the 1800s. Common old masters include Leonardo da Vinci and Michaelangelo. Common old masters paintings are the “Mona Lisa” and “The Last Supper.”
An artist reception is planned for Friday, Aug. 4 to coincide with Findlay’s Summer Art Walk.
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The exhibit is free and open to the public Monday through Friday from 11 am to 4 pm and will be open until Aug. 29.
The Fisher/Wall Art Gallery at the Marathon Center for the Performing Arts is located at 200 W. Main Cross St.
For more information, visit www.mcpa.org/about/art-gallery.
