August 17, 2017
Among our most recent projects for the Ford Foundation was this intense and provocative painting by the late artist Hugh Steers. We removed the artwork from its original stretcher, stretched it in on a new thinner one and then framed the work with a beautiful handmade, closed corner floater frame with splines (additional pieces of wood used at the corners to make a tighter joint) in a collaboration with Cedar Owl. The painting, “The Raft” from 1991, is an oil on canvas depicting a man in his underwear holding what appears to be a boulder or some other heavy weight, on a raft with a bag over his head. It evokes a sense of the ominous that is characteristic of most of the artist’s oeuvre.
Hugh Steers, "The Raft" re-stretched and in its beautiful new frame
Hugh Steers’ short career was influenced by and reflected the AIDS epidemic in New York City in the 1980s. Steers was born in Washington DC in 1963 to a culturally and politically influential family. His mother was the half-sister of writer Gore Vidal and a stepsister of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and his brother is the filmmaker Burr Steer. His Educational background included Yale and the Skowhegan School. In 1989 he was the recipient of a Pollock-Krasner Foundation Fellowship and his first solo exhibition. Steers died of complications from AIDS in 1995 at the age of 32 and a comprehensive monograph catalog of his works was published by the organization Visual AIDS in 2015. His work has been shown at the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Walker Art Center, and the Denver Art Museum.
Close-up detail of the splined corner on the maple floater frame
Stylistically Steers’ figurative compositions fall between Neo-Expressionism and realism. His subject matter is almost always young men in intimate situations - bedrooms, bathrooms, etc. - often with medical references. In later paintings, he represents himself as a figure in a white hospital gown. This figure is shown entering the lives of other characters as both an avenging and a guardian angel.
One of the painter's later works with figure in hospital gown & a photo of the artist himself (images courtesy of Visual AIDS and YAMP - the Yale AIDS Memorial Project)
Thanks once again to the Ford Foundation for their continued support of Frames and Stretchers and great art. As always the work will be delivered to their office by our partners at Art Delivery Van.
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