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OVERFLOW: Ecstatic encounters in the streets of New Orleans

Shown at Gallery 600 Julia
June, 2023

New oil paintings by Stephanie Reed explore immanence* through the experience of both sublime and quirky street traditions.

*Immanence: noun
The state of being inherent or exclusively existing within something.

People in New Orleans know that the city’s spirit is difficult to describe to those who have not experienced it on the ground, and we often land on the fact that its character is that of its people – who come together to express themselves in unique and beautiful ways. Many of the paintings in this body of work are at a large, almost life-sized scale that puts the viewer in the mix for a sense of “being there” in the flow of individuals who collectively shape the distinct magic of this place.

This show follows Reed’s previous one at Gallery 600 titled ‘The World without Us’– a contemplative series primarily of river scenes devoid of figures – which reflected the isolated landscape of 2020-2022. ‘OVERFLOW’ celebrates the end of social dormancy imposed by the pandemic, with the re-blooming of a rich and vibrant culture.

Mural on Franklin Ave

I volunteered to help a group of community members organizing to beautify the Franklin Ave area by the Edgewood Park neighborhood. They wanted to cover the graffiti with something more community-minded. I found them online in posts asking for artist interest.

 

This group raised some donations from neighbors for paint and supplies. They did not, however, have a budget to compensate their mural artists. You can pitch in if you like what I’ve done below:

 
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Yes, I do all sorts of commissions

I was asked by a friend if I could do portraiture. My paintings are typically semi-urban landscapes or street scenes that rarely focus on specificity of those depicted. However, yes I am happy to do portraits, and its always nice to get a commission that gets me to return to a style I may neglect from time to time.

This painting was a wedding gift for a couple who are the parents of this joyful infant. We snuck the photo out of a photo collection they had online and surprised them.

Custom Paintings for Ace Hotel!

I was commissioned by the Ace Hotel to make a series of two-panel paintings that will be installed as armoire doors in some of the guest rooms of their new location in New Orleans. They have been amazing to work with, and I appreciate their effort to include local artists in their roll out!

You’ll see that these were executed with a brush instead of my normal palette knife technique as the works required a lower profile.

Read more about the hotel here.