Stephen Maine American, b. 1958

Stephen Maine transforms the act of painting into an immersive experience, engaging viewers on a multisensorial level through his lively abstractions. In his practice, Maine reinvents the act of creation through a meticulously crafted system of printing plates, purposely disrupting the traditional, controlled method of application. Through a careful orchestration of color and form, he engenders a sense of rhythm and harmony, where the boundaries between structure and chaos become fluid and malleable. The exploration of seriality—repetition, variation, and sequence—acts as a key strategy in his practice, fostering a subtle yet powerful interplay between figure and ground. His methodological approach revels in the joy of surprise, where the juxtaposition of color, texture, surface, and scale yields exhilarating compositions probing the psychology of visual perception.

Stephen Maine (American, b. 1958) received his BFA at Indiana University and later completed his MFA at Vermont College of Fine Arts. Maine has exhibited extensively, most recently serving as the subject of a 2025 solo exhibition at Saint Kate in Milwaukee, WI. He has additionally been showcased at Satchel Projects in New York, NY, Public Private Gallery in Hudson, NY, Hionas Gallery in New York, NY, Furnace/Art on Paper Archive in Falls Village, CT, and Icehouse Project Space in Sharon, CT. 

Works by the artist are held in the collections of numerous public and private institutions including the Museum of Modern Art Library Special Collection, New York, NY; the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY; the New York Public Library, New York, NY; the Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C.; Yale University Art Galleries, New Haven, CT; Art in Embassies Collection, US Department of State, Washington, D.C.; the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH; and the Vanderbilt University Fine Arts Gallery, Nashville, TN. Maine’s work has additionally been featured in ARTnews, Artcritical, The New Criterion, Hyperallergic, Dart International, Two Coats of Paint, and The Brooklyn Rail, among others. He is a longstanding member of American Abstract Artists and the International Association of Art Critics. He currently lives and works in West Cornwall, Connecticut.