Ben Steele’s paintings have an undeniably Pop Art feel, both in style and subject matter. The Utah-based artist creates crisp paintings with bold, hard edges depicting ubiquitous subjects like Heinz ketchup, Campbell’s soup cans (shout out to Warhol), Crayola crayons and bottles of well-known liquor brands. Except Steele takes the pop culture references a step further—the ketchup bottle becomes “Kingz” ketchup and features Elvis on the label, and the text on those liquor bottle brands read “The Who” or “Pink Floyd.”
Gold Rush Ranch, oil on canvas, 30 x 45"“Describing my style is happily one of the hardest questions I get,” says Steele. “The elevator pitch would probably be that I’m a Pop Art realist.” The artist explains that he was classically trained through his college degree as well as an internship in Helper, Utah, under masterful still life painter David Dornan. “But, I discovered early on that getting stuck doing one type of art or one type of style limited what I got to think about and do every day,” he continues. “Since my work topics usually reference art history or pop culture, I’ve learned to have my style match whatever the painting needs to be, [but I’m] always trying to accurately capture the fundamentals of light, perspective and color theory to still create realism.”
Justice Art Co., oil on canvas, 72 x 48"
This March, Altamira Fine Art in Scottsdale, Arizona, is holding a solo exhibition of new works by Steele.
“Gallery exhibitions are a lot of fun because there is often a desire for a theme, and that fits right in with my desire to tell stories. So, coming up with that show theme can really dictate the type of work that gets produced,” says Steele. The show is titled Good AZ Gold and delves into a cornerstone of Western history: the gold rush. “I really was excited to put together a body of work that reflects the region, and with the mystique of gold mining so integral to the founding of the West, it seemed like a perfect launch point to tell Arizona and Southwest stories. Plus, any chance I get to play with puns, I take.”
Golden Popcorn, oil on canvas, 36 x 27"
Pieces like Gold Rush Ranch and Golden Popcorn depict quintessentially Western scenes of dusty ranches with desert mountain backdrops. The latter features a giant box of popcorn with Clint Eastwood plastered on the center.The exhibition hangs March 19 to 30 with Steele at the gallery for an artist reception on Thursday, March 21 from 7 to 9 p.m. —
Altamira Fine Art 7038 E. Main Street • Scottsdale, AZ 85251 (480) 949-1256 • www.altamiraart.com
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