Hugh Steers’ practice utilises the visual language of the Old Masters of Western art to draw the viewer in, then quickly confront them with the challenging reality of his subject matter. Exploring queer identity and the devastation of the AIDS crisis, he completed many of his larger paintings propped on an easel in his kitchen, giving them an almost trademark warped perspective that heightens their emotional intensity.
Day Light
Alexander Gray Associate’s 2015 exhibition Day Light presented a collection of Steers’ works produced between 1990 and 1992 that examined his artistic process and treatment of light. Positioning his 1991 residency at Skowhegan as a turning point for his technique, the exhibition contrasted many of Steers’ earlier interior works with paintings and studies completed during his residency. Maroon Shed (1991) displays two men embracing in the Maine farmland from the same oblique viewpoint as Edward Hopper, bathed in golden summer light and high contrasting shadows.
Strange State of Being
In 2021, Alexander Gray Associates presented Strange State of Being, an exhibition of late-career works for which Steers became known, drawing particular attention to his enigmatic figures as ‘constant companions’. The title of the show was taken from a 1994 quote from the artist after his diagnosis, reflecting the poignancy of Steers’ paintings in exposing the intricacies of AIDs treatment from his experience and those around him. Two Men and a Woman (1992) depicts a nude man in a shadowed bathtub being nursed by two other figures. Steers’ friend Julie Heffernan explained that these figures expressed a desire for companionship and the artist’s own loneliness throughout his struggle with the illness.
Blue Towel, Red Tank
As part of the exhibition series More Life—a group of solo shows held by David Zwirner that mark the 40th anniversary of the ongoing HIV/AIDs crisis—Russell Tovey curated Hugh Steers: Blue Towel, Red Tank in 2021. The show traversed Steers’ entire career as a celebration of his unflinching authenticity in his figurative style. The title painting Blue Towel, Red Tank (1988) depicts a nude man spread across a bathroom floor as another man appears to give him CPR, the ‘blue towel’ draped across the chair by the bathtub. The intimacy of this scene is heightened by the bathroom tiles beneath, which curve around the figures in their wake.
