Jul 21

Randall Steinke

Randall Steinke is a contemporary figurative painter who exhibits regularly in Colorado and Southern California in various juried exhibitions. He has been featured in collections on Saatchi Art and has participated in their venue The Other Art Fair. Randall has a background in architecture and although he has been painting since his early 20’s he wasn’t able to devote to becoming a professional artist until later on in life, due to various personal circumstances.

The paintings are immensely colorful figurative mid size compositions which usually measure 40 x 30 inches. Randall focuses on various figures painting either their skin or shadows with imaginative colors and breaks down human form and facial features to flattened geometric shapes. Viewers may notice complex patterns in Randall’s backgrounds and / or fashionable attire on his subjects. The intricate patterned designs are depicted selectively in just a portion of the paintings while the remainder of the composition becomes flattened like a silkscreen print.

These playful and colorful figures have expressive body language and intense facial expressions accentuated by Randall’s use of various flattened, colorful shapes. Randall mostly sticks to bold neon and pastel colors rather than naturalistic tones with the exception of the portrayal of flesh. The color schematics along with the portrayal of dated hairstyles and clothing contained within the paintings are reminiscent of 1980’s New Wave and pop art aesthetics. These retro and fun features express a sense of jubilation and reflection of cool confidence. Randall’s paintings convey human emotions such as love, intimacy, sensuality, celebration, contemplation, playfulness, and assertiveness through wired body language and the portrayal of stylized facial features such as bulging eyes or figures flashing their teeth in triangular shapes of white.

Couple and Kiss (pictured above) remains one of Randall’s strongest pieces. Unlike most of his paintings, the figures fill up almost the entire composition, mostly taken with the portrayal of heavy jacketed chests as if the couple were on a skiing trip. The hair of the figures are presented with bold yellow and maroon while the sweater becomes accentuated with a pastel-toned sweater on the male and scarf on the female. We may observe a clever circular composition not only in the arm of the female and leaning head of the male but also through the presentation of bold, bright colors on the jackets and hair of the figures followed by pastels in the middle with the sweater and scarf. The outfits and hairstyles on the figures clearly look dated as if they walked straight out of the 1980’s and into our view further reflecting retro, pop, and New Wave aesthetics. Randall portrays the woman expressing pleasure through bulging eyes and flashing triangular teeth while the man seems confident with his strong jawline and linear posture.

Randall Steinke can be described as a stylish, fun painter who remains highly expressive through cheerful colors and breaking down form into representational yet flattened and stylized geometry. These dynamic figures communicate to the viewer their distinct character through geometric outlines of their shadow and features with wire-like positions. The intricate selective patterns and designed backgrounds add a sense of character and jubilation to the composition and personalities of the figures. Randall Steinke extends an invitation for the viewer to enter his colorful realm of painting as a force of shadowed impressions and orchestrated accentuated form.