Tim Stevenson
TUSCUMBIA-Nationally acclaimed Florence artist Tim Stevenson will be exhibiting artwork from throughout his career in Tim Stevenson: The Past 30 Years, on view Feb. 1 through March 12 at the Tennessee Valley Museum of Art. The exhibition includes his early watercolor paintings, up through his oil paintings of the last few years, providing an engaging overview of his evolution as an artist.
Stevenson paints in a representational style, which means his work depicts real-life objects, landscapes, and people. Even though Stevenson has been a working artist for over 50 years, this exhibition includes his work from 1978 to 2020. This time span represents his path to his current style of painting, and it is also the period of his artwork that still survives.
“Prior to 1978, I had done a lot of what would fit into the Surrealist category,” said Stevenson, “along with some abstract work, most of which I destroyed in the spring of 1978, a sort of personal revolution.”
In 1978, he started teaching himself how to paint with watercolor and began the artistic evolution that led to his successful career as a representational painter. “I had a long road ahead of me in learning how to communicate in a representational style,” said Stevenson. “It wasn’t until I encountered the Dutch masters of the 17th century (such as Vermeer and Rembrandt) that I began to make headway, both in terms of style and also in learning what stories I wanted to tell.”
Museum visitors will be able to see this progression of subject matter as Stevenson explored the types of stories he wanted to tell through his art. Early on, Stevenson painted “friends, cousins, their dogs, buildings, and so forth, along with local and regional nature.” The exhibition includes three early paintings that depict people he knew during that time period.
Over time, travel and life experiences caused him to shift focus, and his “horizons expanded to
an emphasis on the broader world.” In the late 1980s, he opened a retail business in Georgia that sold oriental rugs, which led him to develop a rug series. He also began painting still life after seeing the “Dutch masters” around 1990. Since moving back to the Shoals area, Stevenson says “nature in general has had my attention, and still does.” Much of his more recent work features landscapes, interior paintings, and the occasional still life.
Throughout these different periods and varying subject matter, Stevenson’s goal has remained the same. “I want to express what it feels like to be alive in a particular place at a particular time. As this show is going on, I am formulating new directions and new ways to express that feeling.”
Museum hours for this exhibition are Tuesday-Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is $5 for adults, $3 for students, and free for TVAA members. To learn more about the Tennessee Valley Art Association, which runs the Tennessee Valley Museum of Art and the Ritz Theatre, visit tennesseevalleyarts.org or call 256-383-0533.
