William Steiger - LUCKY

In LUCKY, William Steiger's ninth solo show at Margaret Thatcher Projects, the artist takes on New York City for the first time. It is a landscape that has long served as inspiration for artists and their work but Steiger pares down the chaos of the city, employing subtle visual cues such as a sliver of a shadow or the curved edge of a building to imply structures. Signage, water towers or bridges, often viewed from below, provide a distinct perspective that rekindles our awe and offers a unique portrait of the city.

The view in Silvercup (2013) is abstracted, and the background altogether absent, yet there is no question that we are looking at a depiction of a New York City landmark, the iconic signage of Silvercup Studios in Long Island City. Sweeping views of elevated train tracks or glass lined buildings, also detached from their usual surroundings, register a familiarity as well, bringing to mind a dreamy memory and tapping into feelings of nostalgia for the urban landscape.

Motifs originating from outside of "the city," such as wheat pools, caboose cars and other relics from the bygone era also appear in paintings such as Waycar III and Mill & Foundry. Operating in a style that can be described as hard-edged, flat and objective, Steiger has carved an important space as a painter of items from a collective library of visual recognition. Painted with a surreal starkness, they evoke pause in an era of rapid modernization.  

William Steiger received an M.F.A in painting from Yale University in 1989.  His works have been shown extensively in the United States, Europe and Asia, including solo exhibitions this year in New York and Tokyo. His work is included in numerous private and public collections such as American University, Bank of America and the International Collage Center. In 2011, Transport, a monograph of the artist with over 200 color plates and including essays by Richard Vine and Christopher Gaillard was published by Hudson Hills Press.