A new exhibition at the Tripoli Gallery challenges the recollections of childhood. Artist Gordon Stevenson’s “I Remember It Differently” uses childhood cartoons to appeal to both the child and adult in everyone.
“If you look at a cartoon as an adult rather than as a child you have a very different viewpoint on it. And these are my modern takes on the cartoons that were important to me as a child and moments that stand out in time in them,” Stevenson said.
Stevenson grew up in New York but has spent time in Southampton throughout his childhood and adult life. He has a BFA from Bard College and has had worked included in exhibitions across the country and the world.
“I Remember It Differently,” runs from May 24 to June 16 at the Tripoli Gallery, with an opening reception on May 24 from 6 to 8 p.m.
Pulse Insider: How did you get your start in art?
Gordon Stevenson: I’ve always been making things, but my art career really started taking off after I had a show at Colette in Paris that was written up in the NY Times. My interest in making art really burgeoned in high school and will never stop. I am obsessed with making things and always will be.
Pulse Insider: What or who are your greatest art influences?
Gordon Stevenson: My favorite artists are Ed Rushca, Sol Lewitt, and Stephen Powers.
Pulse Insider: How would you describe your art to someone you just met?
Gordon Stevenson: I work in so many different media that I find it hard to pin down quickly for someone what I make. I would say theme of love in relation to love runs through the majority of it and is often put forth in a playful and often tongue and cheek manner.
Pulse Insider: You have a new exhibit at the Tripoli Gallery; can you describe it in with as much detail as possible?
Gordon Stevenson: I am so excited to be showing my new cartoon paintings, which are paintings of single frames of cartoons or comics that clearly were drawn by the original artist with a playful hand that upon first glance may seem innocent, but are not. They are moments a child may not pickup on, but any adult would be hard pressed not to find as provocative. I have taken the time to single out and repaint some of these moments that I particularly am drawn to.
Pulse Insider: What was the inspiration for “I Remember It Differently”?
Gordon Stevenson: I’ve been watching cartoons and collecting these moments, where the artist of the original cartoon clearly had more than just children’s entertainment on his mind, for some time and felt it was time to bring them to life. The images in oil along with my titles are just another extension of my interest of love and life.
