Roger Lee Steele

Roger Lee Steele
Roger Lee Steele
Born Roger Lee Steele
12 June 1945
Fort Smith, Arkansas
Died 4 August 2012
Beaufort, South Carolina
Known for Printmaker
Notable work Moronbu II, Kaminari Hue in Rain

Roger Lee Steele (12 June 1945 – 4 August 2012)[1][2] Reared in Wichita Falls, Texas was an American-born graphic artist/printmaker living in South Carolina best known for his evocative and colorful lithography, an artistic process also known as relief printing. He was a printmaker specializing in the color-blend or split fountain technique often incorporating traditional chine-collé[3] gold leaf techniques in his work. His abstract color graphics are frequently suggestive of an artistic link between mid-late Japanese motifs and the modern world.

Biography

As an exchange student at Tokyo’s Sophia University, Steele studied graphic art and painting and was strongly attracted to the culture and artistic aesthetic of late Edo period and early Meiji period. His studies at Sophia were to make a lasting impression, which continued to inform his work throughout his life. He completed his studies at Texas Christian University, graduating in 1974 with a Masters Degree in Fine Arts.

"Kaminari Hue in Rain", gold leaf chine-collé treatment

Eventually, his style came to strongly feature late period Japanese elements and techniques, evoking the “floating world” of the 18th and 19th centuries. His highly recognizable, occasionally “militaristic” approach was developed over decades to its current status as a point of reference for the genre. He was considered a master of abstract color relief lithography with a considerable following among those knowledgeable in this field. His earliest works featured landscape vistas fused with broadly martial representations, alternatively peaceful, then vaguely soldierly and even bellicose in composition.

Throughout his career, Steele played an active role in art education both as an educator and as a lecturer and curator, maintaining affiliations with the University of South Carolina,[4][5] the Southern Graphics Council, American Print Alliance, and the World Print Council. He was a significant contributor to the Southern Graphics Council International, with service to that organization spanning nearly forty years. He held nearly every position on the board and continued to be artistically active up to his death in 2012. His works are to be found in a number of permanent museum and corporate collections as well as in private hands. His life and art were celebrated from March–April 2013 in an exhibition of his whimsical Valentine Collection at THE Fine Art Gallery, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Steele's contributions to the educational community of his home town of Beaufort, South Carolina were the subject of a posthumous tribute in the Hilton Head Island News, February 2-8, 2017.

Affiliations

Exhibitions

References

  1. ↑ "Roger L. Steele". Copeland Funeral Service. Retrieved 2013-06-13.
  2. ↑ "Remembering the remarkable life of Roger Steele". Yourislandnews.com. Retrieved 2013-06-13.
  3. ↑ Shure, Brian (2000). Chine Colle: A Printer's Handbook. San Francisco; Crown Point Press ISBN 978-1891300158
  4. ↑ "University of South Carolina Beaufort - September 2006". Carolinaarts.com. Retrieved 2013-06-13.
  5. ↑ "J2009_127 USCB Magazine" (PDF). Retrieved 2013-06-13.
  6. ↑ "Off Campus | Print: MKE 2013". Printmke2013.org. Retrieved 2013-06-13.
  7. ↑ "Prints by Robert Steele-Special Exhibition". The Fine Art Gallery. 2013-02-01. Retrieved 2013-06-13.
  8. ↑ http://www.uscb.edu/uploads/Sothern_Graphic_Council_Traveling_Print_Exhibition.pdf
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