Campsite
Artist
James Stephens
(American, born 1960)
Date2005
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions16 × 20 in. (40.6 × 50.8 cm)
ClassificationsPainting
Credit LineBequest of James Pearson Duffy, 2015
Object numberUAC6341
DescriptionJames Stephens' childhood experiences in Detroit set the stage for his unique oil paintings featuring combinations of urban decay and surrealistic tableaus. After receiving his BFA from the College for Creative Studies in 1982, Stephens had his first one-man show in 1988 which launched several other exhibitions in the Midwest, including a retrospective of his work at Oakland University in 2007. The urban landscape of his new home, Chicago, further supplies inspiration and ideas for his intriguing compositions. Still exhibiting his work, Stephens recently had a show at the ArtNxT Gallery in Birmingham, Michigan entitled Improvisations.Campsite is an oil painting from 2005 punctuated by sharp contrasts of color and subject matter. This piece features a desolate wasteland beneath a turbulent, flushed sky. The claustrophobic picture plane jams several objects into the foreground, including a bright red tent-like shape, a dusty cerulean metal object, and a sage green loudspeaker. The looming industrial decay is a theme that has been explored by Stephens for the past three decades of his career, but reflects more on the landscape of urban Chicago rather than his native Detroit.
Text by Catherine Milewski
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