Stephen Magsig, Broadway Reflection. 2005. Oil on canvas.
November 1, 2019
Stephen Magsig’s realist paintings feature light as their main subject: how it bounces off of windows, creates crisp, hot highlights, adds warmth to otherwise cool concrete or intensifies color. The light serves as a central character, giving the paintings their sense of liveliness rather than the use of any figures. Magsig’s use of light as well as visible brushstrokes do much to enhance his mostly architectural studies, bringing them to a level of realism which gives nod to the artist’s hand rather than wade into the obsessive detail of hyper-realism.
Magsig favors cityscapes, specifically those found within his hometown of Detroit. Having worked with this series since the 1980s, he has painted nearly 2,000 studies of the city’s urban landscape. With these, he creates an ever-expanding visual document which includes everything from well-known small businesses to abandoned industrial complexes that speak volumes of the past. In this way, Magsig’s work is testament to the idea that spaces may tell just as elaborate of stories as people.
Broadway Reflection shows what can be assumed to be Broadway Street, located in a historic district in Detroit. Daylight casts bold shadows over rich red awnings of an ornate building front. Cars are parked on either side of the street, their glossy hoods bouncing cool blue highlights into the building windows. The picture plane is cropped, looking over only the top of a car at a corner of the beige architecture in front. The crop ads interest, making it feel as if it is a camera shot hesitating to pan across just yet; perhaps lingering just a little longer where someone was just standing.
Magsig attended the College for Creative Studies in 1985 and afterwards worked as a commercial illustrator at Skidmore Studios. He is represented by galleries within both Detroit and New York. Although a majority of his paintings revolve around the Motor City, he continues to document his locations while traveling across the United States as well as Europe.
Written by Samantha Hohmann