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Robert Steinem -- Bio/Statement
Drawing since early childhood, Steinem began painting as a teenager. His work then was influenced by the Surrealists, particularly de Chirico and Magritte. However, after an injury in the Marine Corps, Steinem quit painting for twenty years, yet the thought of painting kept nagging. Finally, instead of being limited by his legal blindness, he found a way to work though the limitations. An ophthalmologist friend designed special glasses, and Steinem constructed an easel strong enough to stand on. His detail work requires a, "nose to canvas" approach.
In 1980 Steinem became listed in the Directory of American Fiction Writers and Poets, as poet, but since 1993 he has concentrated entirely on painting. Being self-taught, he approached painting with a poet's sensibilities, he knew he could find the surreal and abstract subjects he sought in water and glass with their slightly warped visions of the world.
Having no great artistic statement to make, Steinem just likes to take the eye for a ride, a ride that tends to transport the viewer above and below the surface of the canvas, most notably in his reflection paintings. As Steinem says, "everything we see is reflection, so rendering the reflection of reflected light is like painting an echo."
In the last few years, Steinem's work has been included in such prestigious shows as, the Chautauqua Art Institute Annual Exhibition, The Guild of Boston Artists Annual Non-Members Show, The Northeast Prize Show, won Juror's Choice Award in the 12th Annual American Landscape Show, and was included in the 2012 New England Biennial. He was also juried into The International Guild of Realist, and Oil Painters of America.
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