View a discussion about Gideon Bok’s exhibition, “Blackstar.” Speakers include Susanna Coffey, Sangram Majumdar, Matt Phillips, and David Cohen. Link: Gideon Bok “Blackstar” discussion, September 2020

Steven Harvey Fine Art Projects presents Gideon Bok: Blackstar. A collection of portrait paintings of the artist’s family including the artist’s mother, children, and dog, along with a human skeleton named Uncle Charlie. It is accompanied by an assembled soundtrack made from layered voices of the subjects talking.

Gideon Bok’s work has consistently taken the process of painting, particularly from observation in his studio, as the subject of his work. Instead of the decaying ballroom in coastal Maine that Bok often works in, this new body of work was painted in his barn studio on the artist’s family farm. Additionally, Bok has been experimenting with a form of optical color mixing, heightening the chroma of his studio images. He states, “these optical color mix paintings were an attempt to juice up the color while still focusing on the color I see… I’ve been trying to find ways to get Meghan [Brady]’s sense of color into my paintings. After the Women’s March of 2017, I stole Meghan’s sign that she made for the march, which she made with some of her signature colors of neon pink, bright blues and orange. I love the colors and the spirit of the sign which depicts the classical feminist fist and the words ‘sisterhood is powerful.’ I was and continue to be moved and affected by how the Trump administration has really mobilized feminism in our culture and the rise of the MeToo movement, Time’s Up, and Black Lives Matter. I put the sign in my studio and use it as a recurring theme as well as a high keyed color moment to try and juice up the color in the painting.”

Gideon Bok lives and works in Maine. He received his B.A. from Hampshire College and his M.F.A. from Yale University. He has taught at Hampshire College and Boston University. In 2004, he received a Simon Guggenheim Memorial Fellowship. In 2005, he was included in The American Academy of Art and Letters Invitational Exhibition where he received the Hassam, Speicher, Betts, and Symons Fund Purchase Award. Bok’s work has been written up in The New York Times, Time Out New York, ARTnews, Art New England, and The Boston Globe. He has had four shows at Steven Harvey Fine Art Projects, re: stacks in 2010, record store in 2011, Welcome to the Future in 2014, and Gideon Bok & Meghan Brady: Color and the Kids in 2016.

The exhibition was originally scheduled for March 2020, but was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. For now, there will be no opening reception and the gallery will continue to admit small groups in at a time to see the work. We kindly request you wear a mask when visiting the space. Proceeds from the sale of one painting in the exhibition will be donated to the Biden/ Harris 2020 campaign.

Please call ‪917-861-7312 or contact Lauren Fowler at lauren@shfap.com for more information or images. View available works on instagram @stevenharveyfineartprojects.