BRIAN KEITH STEPHENS
Brian Keith Stephens spent much of his childhood traveling throughout the country before settling in Connecticut. He attended Western Connecticut State University where he discovered his passion for art and continued his education at the Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts, where he graduated in 1998. He then attended the Academie de la Grande Chaumier in Paris and recently received a Masters of Fine Art in Painting from the City College of New York.
Stephens draws inspiration from his surroundings; often painting his two young boys or animals on a neighboring farm. His animals are brilliantly personified through the use of subtle human expressions and choice placement on the canvas. He uses oil paints as a sculptural medium imbedding shapes into the impasto and emphasizing each brush stroke. His backgrounds are sometimes abstract blends of colors created with varying levels of paint thickness that, at times, allow the canvas or under-painting to be revealed. While his subjects may be simple, his paintings carry an emotional weight that is further emphasized with long, poetic titles. Among his most revered influences are Giorgio Morandi and Joseph Beuys.
Stephens draws inspiration from his surroundings; often painting his two young boys or animals on a neighboring farm. His animals are brilliantly personified through the use of subtle human expressions and choice placement on the canvas. He uses oil paints as a sculptural medium imbedding shapes into the impasto and emphasizing each brush stroke. His backgrounds are sometimes abstract blends of colors created with varying levels of paint thickness that, at times, allow the canvas or under-painting to be revealed. While his subjects may be simple, his paintings carry an emotional weight that is further emphasized with long, poetic titles. Among his most revered influences are Giorgio Morandi and Joseph Beuys.
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