Artist Pat Steir Is Still Challenging the Postwar American Canon

At the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, DC, Steir synthesizes two dominant modes of American painting: abstract expressionism and minimalism.

‘I’m just tired of people saying: “Painting is dead.” It’s not dead,’ declared Pat Steir during an artist’s talk on the eve of her latest exhibition, ‘Color Wheel’, at the Hirshhorn. ‘I wanted to prove [that] painting can be [a form of] conceptual art as much as a video or whatever. It depends on the concept behind the work, not the material it’s made in.’ Over a career spanning several decades, Steir has witnessed numerous art movements come and go, but she is adamant that painting remains relevant. It’s an assertion she proves with this impressive show centred on a thematic series of 30, vertical-format abstract oil paintings.

Continue Reading