Steven Lee Adams Article Link… Southwest Art, April 2011
Steven Lee Adams spent three years at Bringham Young University, being accepted into the Bachelor of Fine Arts program in his first semester, an honor usually reserved for third year students. He has garnered many awards, including “Best of Show” at The 66th Annual April Salon, Utah’s most prestigious art show.
In 1989 Steve began doing work for Indian and wildlife artist, Michael Coleman and Neo-regionalist, Gary Ernest Smith. He considers the experience of being in and out of their studios on a regular basis instrumental in his development from art student to professional artist.
Steven initially built, carved and gilded many of his frames, but now oversees much of this work. He considers the presentation of art as an integral part of the whole, selecting frame styles and finishes that he feels enhance the overall impact of each piece.
His work is tied most closely with the Tonalist artists who worked at the turn of the last century. Their primary focus was the spiritual undertone of landscapes, the most notable artist of this movement being George Inness. In his own paintings Steve is searching for the intangible feeling of timelessness that lies beneath the surface of what may seem commonplace. This effort lies directly opposite the Impressionists, who tried essentially to capture a specific moment in time.
These are introspective paintings…urging us to look deeper not only for the subtleties of nature around us, but also at the complex world of emotion within each of us.
“In painting I see two distinct elements that excite me equally. The first and most obvious is the optical illusion of three dimensions. For me this represents a personal vision of my world. It can also be a trap and if not tempered can seduce the artist to focus an inordinate amount of energy on it, being the most quickly gratifying of the two and quickly applauded by people from all walks of life.
The second is the two dimensional nature of a painting. Many artists see this element as only a means to an end (the end being the trick of the third dimension). Personally I find the juxtaposition of brush stroke, canvas or ground, under painting, glazing and color, as gratifying as the illusion of space-if not more so. These elements have more in common with abstraction, and their interplay when taken at close range can have stunning emotional impact to those who take the time to experience them.
Given this, the combination of these two forces, if properly executed within any work of representational art, has enormous power to uplift and at times overwhelm the receptive viewer. Therein lies the fundamental reasoning behind what I am striving to achieve.”
EDUCATION
1986-1989 Brigham Young University, BFA Program
1983-1985 Utah Valley Community College
1978-1980 Timpview H.S., Young Masters Program
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
2002 “11th Annual Plein Air Exhibition” Kneeland Gallery, Sun Valley, ID.
2001 Three Person Exhibition, Kneeland Gallery, Sun Valley, ID.
2001 “10th Annual Plein Air Exhibition”, Kneeland Gallery, Ketchum, ID
2000 “9th Annual Plein Air Exhibition”, Kneeland Gallery, Ketchum, ID
1999 “75th Annual Spring Salon”, Springville Museum of Art, Springville, UT
“8th Annual Plein Air Exhibition”, Kneeland Gallery, Ketchum, ID
1998 “7th Annual Plein Air Exhibition”, Kneeland Gallery, Ketchum, ID
Two-person Exhibition, Kneeland Gallery, Ketchum, ID
“73rd Annual Spring Salon”, Springville Museum of Art, Springville, UT
“6th Annual Plein Air Show”, Kneeland Gallery, Sun Valley, ID
Tonalist Exhibit, The Craftsman’s Guild
The California Heritage Gallery, San Francisco, CA
One Man Show, Park City Gallery, Park City, UT
“Utah Centennial Invitational”, Washington, DC, Atlanta, GA and S. Carolina
“5th Annual Plein Air Show”, Kneeland Gallery, Sun Valley, ID
“72nd Annual Spring Salon”, Springville Museum of Art, Springville, UT
“Miniatures”, Kneeland Gallery, Sun Valley, ID
“Winter Solace”, Kneeland Gallery, Sun Valley, ID
“This Place Utah” Invitational, LDS Church Museum, Salt Lake City, UT
“Images of Faith” Invitational, Salt Lake City, UT
“4th Annual Plein Air Show”, Kneeland Gallery, Sun Valley, ID
Two person show “Plein Air: Points of View”
Frameworks Gallery, Salt Lake City, UT
“71st Annual Spring Salon”, Springville Museum of Art, Springville, UT
“Gallery Invitational” Repartee Gallery, Park City, UT
“Landscapes”, Kneeland Gallery, Sun Valley, ID
“3rd Annual Plein Air Show”, Kneeland Gallery, Sun Valley, ID
“Gallery Invitational”, Repartee Gallery, Park City, UT
“Landscapes”, Kneeland Gallery, Sun Valley, ID
1993
2nd Annual Plein Air Show”, Kneeland Gallery, Sun Valley, ID
“Going Places” Three Man Show, Repartee Gallery, Park City, UT
“69th Annual Spring Salon”, Springville Museum of Art, Springville, UT
1992
Solo Exhibition, Warner Gallery, Springdale, UT
“Master’s Miniatures”, Huntsman Gallery, Aspen, CO
“Rising Stars”, Repartee Gallery, Park City, UT
“68th Annual Spring Salon”, Springville Museum of Art, Springville, UT
“Fall Art Preview”, Allman-Ricks Gallery, Salt Lake City, UT
“67th Annual Spring Salon”, Springville Museum of Art, Springville, UT
1990
“66th Annual Spring Salon, Springville Museum of Art, Springville, UT
HONORS AND AWARDS
1999 Merit Award, “75th Annual Spring Salon”, Springville Museum of Art, Springville, UT
Jurors Award, 71st Annual Spring Salon, Springville Museum of Art, Springville, UT
Best of Show Award, 66th Annual Spring Salon, Springville Museum of Art, Springville, UT
Commissioned Mural, Pleasant Grove City, UT
SELECTED COLLECTIONS
Geneva Steel Corporation, Joe Canon, Orem, UT
NuSkin International, Steve Lund, Provo, UT
WordPerfect Corporation, Alan Ashton, Orem, UT
Dennis Foy’s Town Square, Chatham, NJ
Tom Berenger, Actor
John Fort, Dallas, TX
Dan Britton, Boston, MA
Beth Olin, Yuma, AZ
Matthew Chisolm III, Amber, PA
Seth Lewis, Ogden, UT
Andrea Meghrouni Brown, San Francisco, CA
Mr. and Mrs. Nathan Esformes, Miami, FL
Mr. and Mrs. David Ormsby, Greenwich, CT
Mr. and Mrs. Tom O’Gara, Bellevue, ID
Dr. and Mrs. John Shepard, Las Vegas, NV