Artist Serge Strosberg in his studio in SoHo
FROM HIS APARTMENT in Downtown Manhattan, painter Serge Strosberg watches the workings of his bustling neighborhood unfold. He stands alone, his eyes tracking the movements of the tiny people strolling down Broadway five floors beneath him. The city, with all of its complexities, is the strength behind his art, his muse. He absorbs the breadth of life strewn before him and distills it, so all that remains in his painting is the raw and unadulterated essence of what he has seen—Strosberg’s work manages to be both beautiful and bright, while maintaining a disquieting, but intriguing, dark side.
In the four years since he moved to New York from Paris, the renowned Expressionist has witnessed nothing but perpetual change—both minute and momentous—the likes of which only New York can provide. This continual evolution seems to have inculcated itself into the works that make up his latest exhibitions, “Unmasking SoHo After Dark,” running October 3-28 at the Berkeley College Art Gallery in midtown New York, and “From Antwerp to SoHo,” from December 2-24 at Ludwig Trossaert Gallery in Antwerp, Belgium. Both shows are profound explorations of materialism, juxtaposing the provocative imagery of high fashion with the gritty, grimy streets of Downtown.
Change has been a constant throughout Strosberg’s life. Born in Antwerp in 1966, his formative years were spent shuttling between Belgium, the United States, and France. With a father who helped to uncover the gene for obesity in men and a mother who holds both a Ph.D. and M.D., Serge seemed destined for life in academia. Indeed, he studied chemistry until the age of 22.
However, Strosberg’s lifelong affinity for the arts eventually won out. It led him to the prestigious Académie Julian, a fine arts school attended by the likes of Paul Gauguin, among other influential figures.
"The Night Is Young"
At the Académie, Strosberg learned classical techniques like painting and drawing, but was also instructed in a broader range of disciplines such as photography, calligraphy, and typography. Among his instructors were Elle Magazine editor Peter Knapp, who taught photography, and Jean-Paul Goude, the French creative. Strosberg, for his part, was never intimidated by the outsize personalities in the faculty, and blossomed under their tutelage. “I was very lucky to attend Académie Julian,” he says. “It was a very hard school and very selective, but I’m really happy that I stuck to it.”
Upon completion of his formal art schooling, Strosberg delved even deeper into his creative self-discovery, studying privately with German Expressionist Jorg Hermle, from whom he learned the ancient technique of painting with oil and egg tempera. “It was a technique used [during] the Italian Renaissance,” Strosberg says of the time-intensive method. “Tiepolo used it. It’s very sensual; it allows you to build maximum contrast in your light. I do not use tubes, I really use pigments the old-fashioned way.”
From there, Strosberg’s career blossomed. His vibrant Expressionist style, coupled with his distinct interpretation of contemporary subject matter, have seen his work shown next to the likes of Lucian Freud and Philip Pearlstein and garnered the artist a number of solo exhibitions across the globe.
As an amateur artist who studied a subject far removed from my passion, I saw a great deal of parallels between Serge and myself. I hold him in high esteem and admire him not only as an artist, but also as someone who has done what I hope to: take a chance and truly reach for my dream. Perhaps that’s why on the unseasonably cool early September evening that I went to visit him, I was still finding myself hot under the collar and my palms slightly sweaty.
Greeted at the door to his apartment, I was struck by his unassuming nature and appearance, and put at ease by his exceedingly unpretentious manner. He didn’t welcome me with wild eyes, a shaggy beard, or paint-splattered black skinny jeans—instead, his short-cropped black hair framed a kind face, and his gray button-down was tucked neatly into his unassuming chinos. In fact, the only things that betrayed Strosberg’s profession were the two tables littered with an vast array of various pigments and brushes near the front entrance, and the abundance of paintings, in various stages of completeness, leaning and hung against the walls.
A look at Strosberg's workspace
The studio space itself was beautiful, adorned with tin ceilings and the unit’s original antique radiators. Acutely attuned to his surroundings, Strosberg was extremely deliberate in selecting a building imbued with a long history of fostering artistic personalities. Built in 1887, the low-rise surely fit the bill for possessing a rich and colorful past. “It’s a very interesting building. My neighbor on the floor is [art gallery owner] Charles Cowles and [photographer] Cindy Sherman was his neighbor before,” the artist explained. The loft previously served as a showroom for designer Paul Frank, and before that was owned by a photographer. The floor above is occupied by gallery owner Jose Martos, who has shown the work of acclaimed artists such as Keith Haring and David Salle at his exhibition space on the west side of Manhattan.
Located in an area that was once densely populated with artists, Strosberg both mourns the transformation of SoHo into what he describes as a “vast retail store,” and celebrates the clash between the neighborhood’s historical and contemporary character. A self-professed voyeur, he finds creative inspiration in observing the vibrancy of the crowds of shoppers scurrying along the city streets. “It’s on Broadway, so there are thousands of people walking by. I definitely feed off of this energy,” he related.
"Shattered"
Above all, it’s the culture of rabid consumerism surrounding the tightly packed retail businesses that captivates the painter, which he depicts frequently in his work. In his view, the influence of coveted brands like Chanel, La Perla, and Louis Vuitton is so great that they’re practically revered as idols. “[These brands] reflect the change in our society,” Strosberg says, “especially the new generation, which feels a lot of entitlement. It feels like it is beautiful and it deserves certain things.”
Entitlement and an overpowering desire to obtain those beautiful things has led people to imitate the mannequins they see in the windows of these storefronts, he explains. The similarities in appearance between humans and these plastic imitations, as well as the strange, circular, mimetic relationship between the two, are concepts that Strosberg explores in his work. Through his use of reflective surfaces, he casts the replacement of the neighborhood’s former galleries with storefront displays as a metaphor for the shifting values of our generation. He draws a number of parallels between devotees of fashion and members of religious cults, also comparing the glass casings of storefront displays to the stained glass windows found in churches.
By working with models and the imagery of high fashion, Strosberg seeks to challenge his own Expressionist and Humanist artistic philosophy. He uses subject matter seen by society as vapid and self-centered, but paints it in a style that is more concerned with substance over form—it emphasizes the content of the person’s soul rather than her outward appearance. In this way, he gives the expressionless expression, and the lifeless life. “I think a good name for me would be the expressionist of fashion,” he says. “It’s almost a paradox, you know? Models are not supposed to have expressions and I’m doing the opposite. I’m giving them a voice.”
At the same time, he is highly analytical in his process and observation, likely a product of his upbringing and scientific background. Extremely methodical and regimented in his technique, the artist leaves no detail unplanned. Angles, colors, lighting, and subject are all carefully selected, leaving little up to chance.
Hearing Strosberg speak of SoHo’s vast change does give me pause initially—he’s only lived here in New York for four years. But, as I contemplate the implications of an inconsistency like this for his body of work, I come to understand his point of view and the legitimacy of his statement. Strosberg is the ultimate empiricist; it is precisely his unassuming nature that allows him to come as close to his subject as possible without distorting its natural behavior. Whether that subject is a beautiful young model, socialite, the neighborhood of SoHo itself, or even the continually crumbling values of our society, Strosberg’s unobtrusive manner allows him to be the oxpecker perched atop the hippopotamus, an observer who does not disturb.
"Voyeur"
One could argue that by highlighting the trends and tendencies of our consumerist culture that are his focus, Strosberg to some extent feeds into the cycle and perpetuates the changes he sees transpiring. But that would be missing the point—the true value of Strosberg’s work is its ability to coerce the viewer into self-evaluation and a reflection upon his or her own life. Like any good narrator, the painter leaves the audience to draw its own conclusions about his work.
And while he respects the creative basis of fashion, Strosberg points out some subtle differences between it and art. “Fashion is ephemeral,” he says. “Every season everything changes within the storefront, it’s not a permanent thing. Art is more permanent. It’s a big difference. Fashion is definitely more part of this world of mass consumption. That’s a major distinction between art and fashion—the relationship to time is different.”
Perhaps that solidity is exactly why Serge Strosberg is so passionate about art. With all of the change he has been through, and all of the change constantly surrounding all of us in today’s world, it is important for each of us to have certain pillars that remain constant and stable.
For Strosberg, perhaps permanence does not merely mean to last forever; permanence is to remain unchanged.
For more information on Serge Strosberg, visit his website at http://www.strosbergserge.com/
