Steve Karlik is an abstract painter originally from Portland Oregon, he has lived and worked in both New York and Portland Oregon from 1995 – 2013. His work has shown in Asia, Europe, the US and South America. His solo exhibitions include New York and Rio de Janeiro, with select group exhibitions in Australia, Berlin, Brussels, Italy, New York and Philadelphia. His work has been reviewed by Time Out New York, Il Lunedi de Republica in Italy, Art Net, The Philadelphia Enquirer, The Philadelphia Downtown ledger and by O-Globo and the Jornal O Dia in Rio de Janeiro Brazil. His work has been published by Minus Space and by Vicky Perry in “Abstract Painting: Techniques and ideas”. Steve’s work has been included in Catalogues for “Presentational Painting III” at Hunter College, the “Pulse” Biennale in Richmond Virginia, “Steve Karlik” Minus Space, the exhibition “Still Abstraction” for the Solar Grandjean de Montigny in Rio and in “Carrying On” at Portland State University
In April of 2005 Steve was voted into the American Abstract Artists Association, members have included Piet Mondrian, and Ad Reinhardt. In 2006 Steve participated in the exhibition and panel discussion for Presentational painting III at Hunter College and was included in the 2008 Minus Space group exhibition “Minus Space” at PS1/MoMa.
Steve has a Master of Fine Arts degree in Painting from Pratt Institute, Brooklyn NY, and currently resides in Brooklyn, NY.
“The initial problem I established for myself, as an abstract painter, was how to elevate abstraction to a level of intellectual inquiry while remaining true to the visual nature of painting. I have said that my work is literally just what it is. Beside the argument to provoke discussion about painting, an intellectual challenge to painting implies a focus on sets of relationships that visually structure a painting. Painting always carries a push/pull between its two-dimensional space and its object hood, illusion therefore employs an openness that painting cannot escape. The fact that painting is highly illusionistic endears painting with a lyrical quality, where the materiality of contemporary ideals and the physical property of the medium coalesce into meaning. I choose the word sublime to describe the transcendence of materiality towards higher forms of expression.”
