May 7 – June 8, 2008

Opening Reception:
Friday, May 9, 6 - 8:30 pm

In this body of expressionist paintings, Alderton lends a personal touch to four common themes -- house, garden, wine and friend.  He uses an active palette knife, strong brushstrokes or the heavy-handed markings of an oil stick to construct his images. Geometric blocks of warm tones crash up against cool colors, adding to the expressiveness.  There is always a structure in his work, but within that structure is an emotional push and pull.

Alderton's houses sit alone or guarded by geometric trees, in a quiet, somewhat scratchy landscape. Or, they emerge as quickly sketched outlines in a graffiti-laden canvas. His gardens run the gamut from full landscapes filled with lush earth tones, to heavily structured flowers.  A stylized wine bottle and glasses -often shown as mere outlines- seem to be repeated in each still-life like reoccurring symbols in a series of thirst-related dreams. Finally, he explores the figure (friend) through powerful head shots with heavy, deep-set eyes.  

Alderton pulls from an internal photo album to give us his take on these traditional themes. Ultimately, it is left to the viewer to find shapes or colors that offer the familiar, or entice with the ambiguous, so as to emotionally connect with these snapshots.

 
Steve Alderton has taken part in numerous group and solo shows, in New York as well as Washington . His work can be found in private and corporate collections.