Criqui, Steven

American, 1964-2007

BiographySteven Criqui transforms the cityscape of Los Angeles into whimsical color fields, using the vernacular architecture as readymade geometric abstractions. Driven by process, Criqui employs photography as the basis for digital manipulation and painting. His images are full of light and employ a color palette reminiscent of California modernist paintings, yet his images are also strangely devoid of humanity. The color fields he applies over photographs emphasize both the flat surface of photographs and the flat surfaces of the depicted buildings.

Criqui completed a BA in Art History and a BA in Studio Arts at the University of California, San Diego (1988). He moved to Los Angeles two years later. His work has been exhibited in the United States and Europe, including solo exhibitions at Peter Miller Gallery, Chicago, IL (2005); Galleria in Arco, Turin, Italy (2000); and Donna Beam Gallery, University of Nevada, Las Vegas (1998). He was represented by Susanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects in Culver City, CA. Criqui was a lecturer in Painting and Drawing at the University of California, Irvine, from 1993 to his death in 2007.