Ben Steele rides freely between art historical iconography and Western tropes—terrain of his own making. He keeps all these cultural currents in play, through play. He considers himself a storyteller, navigating narratives at once quirky and layered, open to infinite interpretations.
Steele follows his narrative curiosity down one of two routes: Unbounded or framed. For instance, a new work, inspired by Salvador Dalí’s “The Persistence of Memory,” exemplifies a freewheeling composition. While certain aspects are prescribed by the original—like melting objects draped and dangling—most of the components are open to his imagination, even after giving it the title, “The Persistence of the West.” Inventing elements like an all-seeing Mount Rushmore complicate, rather than clarify, the surrealism underpinning the composition. The work will feel unresolved until suddenly, it comes together by his brush. “That one will take a minute to work out…” he says.
