Stefan Szczesny
Opening Reception: Saturday, December 7, 6 – 8 pm
*During Holiday Cheers, a holiday art walk in the Arts District New Orleans
Octavia Art Gallery is pleased to present La Vie en Fleurs, a solo exhibition featuring new drawing, painting, and sculpture by Stefan Szczesny.
Stefan Szczesny studied under Günter Fruhtrunk at the Academy of Fine Art in Munich. After completing his studies, he was influenced by Delacroix’s paintings, causing him to move away from conceptual and minimalist art in favor of figuration and expressive lines. With a Matisse like quality, Szczesny creates expressive works filled with vibrant color and movement. His images combine flowers and Caribbean landscapes with outlines of the female figure. Szczesny’s art displays an allegiance to Primitivism, capturing those subjects which bring him joy, with spontaneity and lightheartedness.
Paintings are complex puzzles in the twilight world between abstraction and figuration. I use the medium in a simple, unsophisticated way to express what I don't see expressed anywhere else. – Stefan Szczesny
Szczesny lives and works between St. Tropez, France and Berlin, Germany. He has exhibited at the Kunsthalle Bremen, Villa Massimo in Rome, and the Goethe-Institut in Paris. He has been selected for numerous public art projects internationally, most notably, a commission by the World Wildlife Fund to complete a series of twelve murals for the Expo 2000 in Hannover. The murals are intended to visually communicate the importance of protecting the environment and endangered species, measuring more than 350 square meters in size. In 2007 Szczesny completed a public art project, transforming Mainau Island into a modern Arcadia. The lush vegetation of Mainau Island was combined with Szczesny’s steel shadow sculptures and hundreds of ceramic vases covered with archetypal signs and markings reminiscent of ancient cave dwellings. The final product is a mysterious wonderland filled with floral elements, fruits, nudes, and scenes of the Mediterranean landscape.