ARCADE

GAME ART: STEPHEN THORPE'S ARCADE PAINTINGS (2022)

Matteo

Matteo

— 2 min read
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Stephen Thorpe2
Stephen Thorpe, The Over-soul, Oil on canvas, 60 x 52 in, 2022
Stephen Thorpe2
Stephen Thorpe, Life is Heaven, Oil on canvas, 60 x 52 in, 2022
Stephen Thorpe2
Stephen Thorpe, In Woods and Mountains I Roam, 60 x 52 in, 2022
Stephen Thorpe2
Stephen Thorpe, One Needs Death to be Able to Harvest the Fruit, oil on canvas, 60 x 52 in, 2022What can I say? I'm totally in love with Stephen Thorpe's bright and colorful "corner" paintings of classic arcades next to flamingos, vultures, seagulls, and ducks. Here's an excerpt from the dreamlike press release accompanying his most recent show in New York, Boundaries of the Soul, at Denny Diming Gallery:The edge of the canvas – depicting a room – bleeds into the gallery through thick layers of paint molded to the work’s frame – its own corner. Anachronistic objects question time and place, and ornate rugs, with designs drawn from a myriad of cultures, act as nostalgic calls to half-remembered sanctuaries, a tangle of real and self-constructed realities. Life-size arcades are personified yet switched off, inanimate objects; while the living birds of US naturalist and painter John James Audubon are the focus of lifeless, decorative wallpaper. Through these new works and an exhibition design conceived by the artist, Thorpe creates a setting that marks the boundaries of the soul, a platform for in-betweenness, and spaces through which to encounter the limits and distinctions between self and environment. Stephen Thorpe is currently based in Atlanta, Georgia. He received his MA in Painting from the Royal College of Art in London and is currently a Professor of Painting at the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD). He has been the recipient of numerous prizes, including the Basil H. Alkazzi Foundation Scholarship; Saatchi’s Showdown Prize, judged by Kristine Roepstorff and Matthias Weisher; prize winner of the 3rd Ward Open Call; and the Royal Scottish Academy’s The Skinny Award. Thorpe’s work is held in prominent private and museum collections and has been featured in solo and group exhibitions around the world at venues including Ora-Ora Gallery, Hong Kong; Denny Dimin Gallery, New York and Hong Kong; Saatchi Gallery, London; the National Museum, Gdansk, Poland; Copeland Gallery, London; Summerhall, Edinburgh; the Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh; and Aberdeen Art Gallery, Aberdeen, amongst others. He previously sat on the Selection Committee for the Basil H. Alkazzi Scholarship Award and the Ali H. Alkazzi Scholarship at the Royal College of Art, as well as the Outstanding Student Award in Hong Kong.LINK: Stephen Thorpe

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