Stephanie Shank's New Work in Beckonings and Reckonings

    SANTA FE, NM, August 20, 2014 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Shank's work is spontaneous, taking place as she paints. A complexity of forms and shapes begin to show as colors expand on the surface. The surface appears to be in a continual state of flux as those forms take shape. Shank's dominant characteristic is a strong sense of organic life.

In her new work, Shank says there's more of a sense of formalism. "The recent paintings manifest much of the raw internal structure of previous works, but there is a distillation of elements into a quirky formalism of pure and unrehearsed gestures and narratives," Shank explains. "The gestures are more organically geometric odds and ends sketched into a new expressive territory. Some shapes are quick, child-like scribbles; some more readable as images. There is a balancing act between sophistication and simplicity, between whimsical mark-making and eloquent abstraction. [There is] no underlying message, just the process with no single interpretation, always subject to change by the viewer's mood or outlook at that moment."

Her palette remains, as always, unrestricted--"an ever-shifting array of colors"--as she uses a variety of media: acrylic, oil pastel, conte crayon and lead pencil.

She continues to be, she says, "passionately influenced" by Cy Twombly, Joan Mitchell, Philip Guston and Oskar Kokoschka.

Born in St. Louis in 1954, Shank was first exposed to the world of painting as a young girl, fascinated as she watched her mother paint. She attended Lindenwood College in St. Charles, Missouri, and earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Missouri-Kansas City in 1976. After graduation, she stayed in Kansas City, working in the advertising and marketing fields. Shank yearned to see a new light and discovered it in the desert of Tucson and soon relocated.

Shank's paintings are in private collections nationally including expressionist art collections of former Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Gifford, Jack and Susanna Quinn of Washington D.C., Joan Cauthorn of Tucson, and Paul Dumont with Kokopelli Gallery in NYC.

A show of new abstract paintings by Stephanie Shank opens at Pippin Contemporary, on Aug. 27 and run through Sept. 9. An artist's reception is planned from 5 to 7 p.m. Aug. 29.

Located at the gateway to historic Canyon Road, Pippin Contemporary, founded May 2011 by artist Aleta Pippin, is committed to showing abstract art that is fresh and vibrant, as well as collectible. Pippin Contemporary's artists, selected for their energetic and tactile expressions, celebrate life with colorful and authentic insights, expanding the realm of possibilities in their artwork. Their expressions range from abstract paintings to sculpture in stone, metal and glass, bronze, and kinetic sculpture.

Pippin Contemporary provides a sensory experience of color and mood.

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