“People, Places, and Wildlife in Oils” Paintings Replace Photography
By Kate Mays ‘06
News Staff Reporter
The gallery walls of the Paul Mellon Arts Center have been stripped of their photographs and re-adorned with paintings. Following Richard Sobol’s photography exhibit on MIT’s newest construction project, André Veilleux’s and Daniel J. Stegos’s paintings are now on display in the PMAC.
Stegos and Veilleux, both 29, are locals; Stegos grew up in Wallingford and Veilleux grew up in Meriden. They attended the Paier College of Art in Hamden. Stegos graduated in 2000 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts, while Veilleux graduated in 2001 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Illustration. During and following his time at Paier, Stegos accrued several awards, and has showed at the Wall Street Gallery in Madison, CT in a Trompe’Oeil exhibit, and at Gallery 53 in Meriden, CT. He had his first one man show, “The Preservation of Wildlife through Daniel J. Stegos,” at the Mary Lou Fischer Gallery in Guilford, CT. The exhibition at the PMAC is Veilleux’s first show.
Neither Stegos nor Veilleux can support himself solely on his artwork yet. Veilleux has worked as a plumber, an office-building cleaner, and a janitor in order to supplement his income. Stegos works now as a custodian at the Wallingford public schools, although photography teacher Mr. Robert Mellon predicted that Stegos could possibly have a career as an illustrator. Stegos has already illustrated three books: Penguin’s Familys: The Story of a Humboldt Penguin, Canada Goose at Cattail Lane, and Swordfish Returns. His illustrations, as well as their books, are displayed in the gallery side of the PMAC as part of the exhibit.
Some of the paintings are for sale, their prices ranging between $500 to $1,800. Choate does not usually pay the artists who show; their incentive is publicity. The possibility of some sales, also, “can be the gravy for the artists when they show here,” said Mr. Mellon.
Choate will collect a 15% commission on any pieces sold. Profit is not the main objective, however. The idea is “to have something on the walls” that can be used as a “teaching tool,” and a “conversation starter” to examine “color, composition, how the artist handles their space,” explained Mr. Mellon.
Stegos’s and Veilleux’s exhibit, “People, Places and Wildlife in Oils,” presents its audience with two very different artistic approaches to similar subjects. Stegos’s style “borders on photo-realistic,” according to Mr. Mellon, though one “wouldn’t mistake his art for photos.” Stegos paints mostly wildlife, meticulous in his detail. “I marvel at the mastery and precision of his work. I love his bright palette and strong colors,” said Mr. Mellon. Indeed, Stegos paints his landscapes as they would idealistically appear on the clearest, sunniest day.
Veilleux, on the other hand, tends to alter reality somewhat in his paintings. He uses more of a mixture of various styles in his work. His distortions and “soft, limited palette” are reminiscent of impressionism, Mr. Mellon observed, but his “flattening of perspective” in his piece, Fenway Park, “has qualities that you [would] find in American folk art.” Veilleux’s pieces make up most of the “People, Places,” aspect of the exhibit, leaving the wildlife to Stegos. Mr. Mellon described Veilleux’s work as “whimsical and fun.”
Stegos taught at Choate’s summer program, which was how Mr. Mellon, who organizes the PMAC’s art exhibits, met him. Mellon described Stegos as a “logical choice” for the exhibit. Stegos is good friends with Veilleux, and the two were interested in doing a show together. The exhibit opened on January 3, shortly followed by a reception on Friday, January 6. The show will run until February 25.
