Description
AU's Studio Art MFA program presents Steven Cushner in conversation with Stan Klein in Katzen 201.
Inspired by the human instinct to identify patterns in daily life, Steven Cushner's (American, born 1954) work is created through the performance of painting as the distillation of gesture into iconography.
His imagery is derived from the obvious logic of simple functions like the mechanics of a stack of firewood, the weave of a fisherman’s net, or the movement of a buoy in the ocean. Each work, varying in scale from enormous to tiny, has a commanding presence that teases out the relationship between what something looks like and how it acts. Spanning three decades, Cushner's pedagogical stream of work has established him as a singularly significant painter.
Steven Cushner is a graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design and received his Master of Fine Arts in painting from the University of Maryland in 1980. His work is included in numerous private and public collections, including the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington DC, and the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington DC.
Stan Klein lives in Chicago and exhibits his work under the name Vito DeSalvo. Stan/Vito earned his/their BFA from Carnegie Mellon University. They have exhibited at the Joanne Dobrick Gallery, Chicago, Judith Racht Gallery, Sawyer, Michigan, the Dowling Walsh Gallery, Rockland, Maine, and the Greenkill Gallery, Greenkill, NY. Stan/Vito have work in the collection of the McDonald's Corporation and have completed many private commissions. Stan operates Firecat Projects Gallery in Chicago, and has worked as a studio assistant for Kenneth Noland, Andrew Wyeth, and Tony Fitzpatrick.
Steven and Stan are childhood friends. They studied art together as high school students and went off to art school. Steven has lived in Washington DC for 45 years. After earning his MFA, Steven spent 10 years as an art handler, then began a long teaching career. He has lived and worked in the same house and studio for close to 40 years. Stan has worked as a framer, museum exhibition specialist, studio assistant, gallery owner, and usher at Wrigley Field. Between them, they have 90 years of living and working experience in the art world and have many stories to share.
Presented in conjunction with CUSHNER on view at the American University Museum at the Katzen Arts Center through December 10.
Learn more about visiting the Katzen Arts Center. The building is fully accessible and parking is free after 5 p.m.
Learn more about the Studio Art MFA program at American University.
