T

t o d ay s m a s t e r s

Stephen Baumans Journey through Life & Art

By Max Gillies

GH

f you wrote a screenplay tracing the life

path of Stephen Bauman (b. 1980), no
one would believe it: A Miami graffiti artist
learns the tenets of classical realist painting in
Florence, then moves to Sweden to share them
with others. Yet thats just how it happened,
and the artworks emanating from his unique
journey are well worth admiring.
Born in Memphis, Bauman moved to
Miami with his family when he was young.
He followed his older brother into the world
of graffiti, which was infused with the spirit
of punk rock and early rap music. Decorating
large walls and other surfaces introduced Bauman to the basics of design and drawing, and
its revealing that, even then, he incorporated
such figurative elements as faces and bodies
into his creations.
Everything changed when Bauman
arrived in Italy to attend the Florence Academy of Art, the large atelier founded in 1991
by the American artist Daniel Graves. Here the
young man acquired even stronger drawing
skills while excelling at the academic curriculum, which inculcated in him a deep appreciation for the harmony and beauty of nature,
whether it takes the form of figures, landscape,
or the objects in a still life.
Upon graduating in 2007, Bauman began
teaching at the academy, but he experienced
a crisis of direction until the following year,
when he met fellow artist Cornelia Hernes.
They quickly fell in love and married, giving
Bauman what he calls the self-confidence to
hear and pursue his own artistic voice. Today
both are instructors at the Florence Academys
successful outpost in Mlndal, Sweden.
Blending Old and New
Bauman now makes work that he considers a conflation of his Florentine training and
his graffiti heritage. Though these impulses
may seem contradictory, he emphasizes
how much they have in common, comparing for example graffitis linear gestures
and rhythmic shapes with the human bodys
contours and forms. Today Bauman works in
68

FineArtConnoisseur.com | November/December 2014

Other Voices
2014, Graphite on paper, 29 1/2 x 25 1/2 in.
Collection of the artist

Alone Together
2012, Oil on panel, 16 x 20 in.
Private collection

When I Was Young

2014, Oil on canvas, 60 x 45 in.
Art Renewal Center Collection
Winner of the Fine Art Connoisseur Award
(and also First Place, Imaginative Realism
Category), 2013/14 ARC International
Salon Competition

FineArtConnoisseur.com | November/December 2014

69

Portrait of the Artist Joakim Ericsson

2011, Charcoal and pencil on paper, 15 x 11 in.
Private collection

various genres portraiture, still life, landscapes, interiors almost always juxtaposing
natural forms with unnatural, imagined, or
otherworldly elements that often function as
symbols. (These may be literal, such as the
skull hovering near the top of Other Voices, or
implied, such as sudden value changes unrelated to the scene he has actually observed.)
Baumans overall objective is to unite what
he calls representation and magic, or, if you prefer, sight and feeling into images that honor the
significance of both. More broadly, his scenes
are intended to convey how it feels to be alive
itself a magical experience and to underscore
the interconnectivity of all human beings.
When he sets to work, Bauman always
has a plan in mind, but then, he explains, the
image unfolds through free association. He
thoroughly enjoys such unpredictability, even
when the result does not resemble his intention
at all. Though he usually works in oil, charcoal,
70

FineArtConnoisseur.com | November/December 2014

Vessels and a Coin

2012, Oil on linen, 16 x 12 in.
Private collection

and graphite, he likes to experiment with other

media, aware that each material offers something unique.
This years Other Voices, for example,
marked Baumans first experience working with
powdered graphite, which he mixed with water
and applied with a brush. He loved the novelty
of fusing painting with drawing, though the
pictures imagery is classic Bauman: note the
immediacy of the facial expressions and the
eloquence of the hands positioning. Though
we cannot fathom exactly how the central figure
interrelates with the hovering faces and skull,
we do know that something mystical is afoot.
Ostensibly a portrait, Alone Together is
actually a reverie on the sitters past and present. The extreme palpability of his likeness
contrasts strikingly with the ghost-like echo of
his face floating at far right, and with Baumans
decision not to finish the figure below the waist.
Moreover, the sitter is set against an abstracted,

almost metallic, background that features geometrical designs (including a halo-like circle)
that drive attention to his haunted eyes.
More uplifting is When I Was Young, in
which a girls halo and glowing finger connote
Baumans belief that, for the young, anything
is or at least should be possible. He is
particularly interested in painting flickering
lights like this, associating them with the life
force that burns inside each of us, whether or
not we choose to reveal it.
We look forward to seeing what direction Bauman pursues next. In the meantime,
more of his work can be seen at Haynes Galleries (Nashville, Tennessee, and Thomaston,
Maine), Hersh Fine Art (Glen Cove, New
York), and Jack Meier Gallery (Houston). n
Max Gillies is a contributing writer to Fine Art
Connoisseur.