Be consistent: Artist-entrepreneur Steve Vinson models versatility necessary to thrive
A painter, professor, preparator, and curator, Vinson says he likes promoting others’ work more than his own. Don’t let that fool you, though: his own work is a potent package of saturated colors, rough textures, and post-apocalyptic pessimism.
The days of the lone artist are gone. The romantic genius who slaves away in the studio to save the world has been replaced by the artist-entrepreneur. The tortured soul is out. The savvy creative is in. This series focuses upon Grand Rapids artists who understand what it takes to sustain an art practice here and now.
Soft spoken and easy going, Steve Vinson models the versatility necessary to thrive as a contemporary creative. When he’s not doing the grunt work to install a Fed Galleries exhibition, you might find him teaching two-dimensional design at Grand Rapids Community College (GRCC) …or GVSU or KCAD, or you might find him creating a Facebook event for the next opening at Spiral, his storefront gallery on South Division. In the midst of it, Vinson has also managed to produce a body of work currently on display at 337 Project Space. Painter, professor, preparator, and curator, Steve Vinson makes stuff happen.
Originally from Indianapolis, Vinson arrived in Grand Rapids eight years ago to get his MFA in Painting at Kendall College of Art and Design. Since then, he has become a dedicated member of GR’s art scene. In 2013 Vinson launched Spiral Gallery on 44 S. Division Ave., a Dwelling Place live/work space designated for neighborhood revitalization. A lot of galleries have come and gone since then, but Spiral remains.
“I try to be open to a lot of things,” he says. “I try to be present to the community.” Rather than acting as curator-in-chief, Vinson welcomes proposals from local artists, and designates himself the facilitator of opportunities.
“I know it sounds weird, but I would rather someone else’s voice be heard. I feel I get more benefit from promoting others than myself.” This kind of community-mindedness is an essential characteristic of GR’s visual art scene, so it makes sense that Spiral has been such a steady venue.
But Vinson admits this takes work.
“It’s about being consistent. You just have to wake up and do stuff that leads you in the right direction,” he says. “Community isn’t going to build itself. Be consistent.”
That consistency has not only proven successful with Spiral, but also with Vinson’s painting practice. On December 1, “The Fruit of Labor” opened at Tom Duimstra’s 337 Project Space. A mash of street art, DIY bad-assery and post apocalyptic pessimism, Vinson’s work is a potent package of spicy goodness. The works are small and succinct, but their saturated colors and rough textures make them seem larger. One series of Rauschenberg-esque street scenes protrude from wooden armatures painted to replicate rusted steel beams. Another series of stenciled characters from the Walking Dead graphic novels reek of Vinson’s obsession with pop culture’s version of The End.
The artist’s former custodial jobs in Indianapolis shaped a lot of his understanding of the urban landscape. He saw everything from the underbelly of corporate buildings to penthouse views of the city, and was able to observe organic transformations over the course of time. Like the visceral textures of his work, these transformations are additive and subtractive. Things are ripped down, built up, and ripped down again.
Vinson’s unpopulated underpasses and concrete dividers relay a glum outlook.
“I see humanity’s existence as a self destructive and environmentally destructive, making things uninhabitable for ourselves,” he says. Ironically, the more we build, the more we destroy.
Fortunately for Grand Rapids, Vinson is not overcome by the onslaught of complete annihilation. At least, not yet. In this interval preceeding a zombie apocalypse, he plans to keep at his work. He’ll wake up, don his artist/curator/preparator/professor hat, and he’ll be consistent.
