Artist Showcase – Steve White
About the Artist
Steve lives in a tiny house in Albuquerque, with a big yard. If you stop on by the Folk Farm, at 445 Louisiana SE, Steve will be happy to pull a piece off his house and sell it to you. A garden of whirly-gigs, hubcaps and wooden cutouts like a 6ft Kitty Wells or a 10ft Elvis angel hang on the outside of the house. Steve is known for his keen makeover magic of painted Pez candy containers. Out of existing Pez dispensers he creates, Johnny Cash, Patsy Cline, Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera characters, just to name a few.
Steve’s themes and ideas range from the Devil and Jesus, religion, politics, monster trucks, (with monsters at the wheel, of course), Elvis, Civil rights, Freida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, “real country” stars such as Hank Williams, Kitty Wells and Ernest Tubbs, the plight of Native Americans, wrestling, freak shows and issues of conscience.
–Elena Baca, CultureNet Contributor
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Folk Art, Naïve, Outsider, Visionary are all categories given to artists who have not received formal training. Artist Steve White’s work comes from the heart and a very intense mind. His brightly colored paintings, dioramas, and painted wood cutouts are anything but simple or naïve. Steve knows his stuff about “real country music,” politics, and popular culture. His pieces are informed commentaries on the world that we live in. He understands a certain aspect of American culture and expresses his ideas in a broad range from extremely witty and intelligent to sometimes just plain fun. His creations are whimsical with an edge; there is definitely something for everyone.
Steve was born in Lima, Ohio and has called New Mexico home for over 15 years. A couple of times a year Steve hosts what he calls the “Folk Farm Art Fests” where he invites artists to sell in his yard. The purpose is to have a good time and give the public a chance to buy art at reasonable prices. The father of Outsider Art, Howard Finster, inspired this. Steve sells his work at “Howard’s Place” and participates in the annual Howard Finster Festival. He has a piece in Howard’s Paradise Gardens next to one by Keith Haring. Besides being a New Mexico treasure in the genre of folk art, Steve is also a collector of such visionaries as RA Miller, Mary Proctor, Howard Finster and Myrtice West.