MAX STEELE "Below the Blue Wall"
My work is rooted in the experience of growing up in Havana, not Cuba but a small town in the Midwest, where I learned the value of hard work. Always mindful of avoiding “waste”, recycling, reuse and repurposing were practiced as a way of life. Grateful to have spent my formative years with my grandfather in his workshop has provided me with the skills and passion for making things. My work is notable for the abundance of fresh and unexpected views, a lively sense of color and an appreciation for revealing the simple beauty from the most mundane or ordinary of circumstances.
Based in Minneapolis, Max is a fine art artist and photographer focusing on contemplative compositions of the natural and man-made environments around the globe. The excitement he finds in the ordinary things and events of life are captured and revealed in his unusual approach to photography and the printing process.
After a successful career in architecture and teaching of more than five decades, Steele left the corporate world to pursue his passion for art and photography. Max, a visionary architect, made his reputation by creating and designing magical spaces and compelling places for shopping, playing and working. Including the original Calhoun Square.
Steele had the opportunity to travel the world in his career and used it to photograph what he delighted in. These photographic images allow him to explore the source of that delight: forms, textures, colors, and symbols.
Max started showing his photography in 1975. Over the years he has been juried in numerous group and solo shows.
One of these shows launched a new direction for Max. He started to combine images and print multiple layered photographs. This new experimentation illuminated a fresh new way of seeing the world. He discovered ways to reveal and combine shapes, color, line and texture.
“While my work owes much to compositional movements, intuition and serendipity are always abundantly evident. Capturing splashes of light and contrasting dark, interesting patterns and bold forms all speak clearly about the subject. At times an image that I’m developing may appear incomplete or even random. I consider this a strength, not a loss that needs repairing. This phenomenon is what the Japanese aesthetic calls Wabi-Sabi. My unique hands on printing process, keeps attention focused on the sketch quality of the print and ensures the fresh and unselfconscious product that I hold in high regard.”
Max continues to push the boundaries to create montages. By combining diverse photographic images using ink jet printer technology, he is able to create a multitude of different narratives. The narratives that evolve from this process produce fusions, new stories along with fresh and inspiring ways to look at the world!
To see more of Max’s work view www.MaxSteel.Art